The  Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


UNIFORM  WITH  THIS  VOLUME 

Castles  and  Chateaux  of  Old  Touraine  ^3.00 

By  Francis  Miltoun 

Castles  and  Chateaux  of  Old  Navarre  3.00 
By  Francis  Miltoun 

L.  C,  PAGE  S-  COMPANY 

New  England  Building,  Boston,  Mass. 


I 

\ 


Stirling  a:>iie 

(.Seepage  131) 


Being  a  description  oj  sundry , fori restcs,  towtn.  peels,  and 
other  houses  of  strength  built  by  the  princes  and  barons  of 
old  time  in  the  highlands,  islands,  inlands,  and  borders  of 
the  ancient  and  godfearing  kingdom  of  Scotland 

By 

FRANK  ROY  FRAPRIE 

Jluthor  of  "  Among  Baoarian  In/u  " 


BOSTON  *  L.  C.  PAGE  & 
COMPANY    *  MDCCCCVIl 


Copyright,  igoj 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 
Entered  at  Stationers^  Hall,  London 

All  rights  reserved 


First  impression,  November,  1907 


COLONIAL  PRESS 
ElectrotyPed  and  Printed  by  C.  H.  Simonds  Co 
Boston,  U.S.A. 


Zo  Her, 

WHO,  BY  THE  LIGHTENING    OF    MY    BURDENS,    HAS  MADE 
THIS   BOOK  POSSIBLE. 


Preface 


In  these  pages  I  have  tried  to  bring  to- 
gether some  of  the  history  and  romance  which 
attaches  to  the  more  important  castles  of  Scot- 
land, and  to  tell  enough  of  their  architectural 
peculiarities  to  enable  the  visitor  to  understand 
what  he  is  viewing.  In  none  of  these  respects 
is  it  to  be  hoped,  at  this  late  day,  that  new 
facts  of  importance  could  be  brought  forth, 
My  task  has  been  rather  to  furnish  a  conve- 
nient collection  of  facts  hitherto  to  be  found 
only  by  much  reading  of  books  often  not  easily 
accessible,  adding  thereto  my  own  opinions  and 
experiences  where  they  seemed  novel  or  inter- 
esting. 

The  book,  though  the  outcome  of  three  trips 
to  Scotland,  the  last  of  which  was  undertaken 
solely  to  collect  material  for  it,  is  less  a  record 
of  travel  than  a  companion  and  guide  for  it. 
It  is,  as  the  only  handbook  on  the  subject,  a 
necessity  for  the  visitor  to  the  castles  who 
would  know  the  truth  about  them.    The  so- 

vii 


viii 


Preface 


called  facts  dispensed  by  local  guides  are  in 
most  instances  erroneous,  and  have  not  been 
used  in  this  volume,  where  historical  references 
are  taken  from  more  authoritative  sources.  I 
dare  not  assume,  however,  that  entire  accuracy 
has  been  attained  in  the  transcription  of  the 
thousands  of  names  and  dates  mentioned,  even 
when  a  choice  had  not  to  be  made  between  con- 
flicting spellings  and  figures,  elsewhere  given. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  enumerate  the 
sources  of  historical  information.  In  many  in- 
stances, they  are  named  in  the  text,  but  to  men- 
tion all  would  be  to  include  most  of  what  has 
been  written  on  Scotch  history.  Architectur- 
ally, I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  monumental 
work  of  MacGibbon  and  Ross,  "  Domestic  and 
Castellated  Architecture  of  Scotland."  Their 
theory  of  native  development  as  opposed  to 
Billings'  hypothesis  of  French  origin  I  have 
adopted  and  expounded.  In  a  few  instances 
of  minor  castles  which  I  have  not  personally 
visited,  my  account  is  based  upon  their  meas- 
urements. 

I  have  been  asked  what  castles  should  first 
be  seen  by  the  average  visitor  to  Scotland. 
Edinburgh  and  Stirling,  I  assume,  will  be  in- 
cluded in  every  itinerary,  but  they  are  citadels 
and  palaces  rather  than  castles.    For  a  single 


Preface 


IX 


castle  which  will  give  the  most  satisfactory 
idea  of  Scotch  feudal  hfe,  I  would  select 
Doune,  which  is  easily  included  in  the  Tros- 
sachs  trip  taken  by  almost  every  visitor  to  Scot- 
land. Others  easily  reached  and  well  worth  see- 
ing are,  for  beauty  of  situation,  Bothwell,  Kil- 
churn.  Castle  Campbell;  for  historic  interest,  v 
Lochleven,  Dunnottar,  Craigmillar,  Hermi- 
tage, Lochmaben;  for  romantic  story,  Tantal- 
lon  and  Tillietudlem.  These  would  perhaps  be 
enough  to  satisfy  the  average  traveller.  The 
specialist  could  make  out  a  more  extensive  list 
after  reading  the  following  pages. 

Brooexine,  Mass.,  October^  1907. 


Contents 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

Development  and  Styles  of  the  Castles  of 

Scotland    1 

II.    Castles  Near  Glasgow   26 

III.  The  Castles  of  Argyllshire        ...  46 

IV.  The  Castles  of  Northwestern  Scotland    .  72 
V.    The  Northeastern  Highlands     ...  96 

VI.    The  Southeastern  Highlands      .       .       .  110 

VII.    The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth      .       .  131 

VIII.    Fife  and  Vicinity   160 

IX.    Edinburgh  Castle   192 

X.    Edinburgh  Castle  {Continued)      .       .       .  222 

XL    The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  .       .       .  240 

XIL    Castles  of  East  Lothian      ....  276 

XIII.  Castles  of  East  Lothian  {Continued)   .       .  309 

XIV.  Castles  of  the  Border  ....  335 
XV.    Southwestern  Scotland      ....  361 

Index   389 


List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 

Stirling  Castle  {See  page  131)  . 

Frontispiece 

Glamis  Castle  

facing 

o 
o 

Tantallon  Castle  

facing 

1  Q 

io 

Dumbarton  Castle  

facing 

Oft 

Craignethan  (Tillietudlem)  Castle 

facing 

32 

Bothwell  Castle  

facing 

OO 

Plan  of  Rothesay  Castle 

• 

40 

Rothesay  Castle  

facing 

42 

KiLCHURN  Castle  

facing 

CO 

Gylen  Castle  ...... 

facing 

Aros  Castle   

facing 

68 

Plan  of  Inverlocky  Castle  . 

TO 

Invergarry  Castle   

facing 

7o 

Kirkwall  Palace  

facing 

86 

Plans  of  Notland  Castle 

90 

The  Broch  of  Mousa  .... 

facing 

94 

Cawdor  Castle  

facing 

96 

Spynie  Palace  

facing 

102 

Plan  of  Fyvie  Castle  .... 

105 

Fyvie  Castle  

facing 

106 

Dunnottar  Castle   

facing 

110 

Plan  of  Crathes  Castle  .... 

116 

Crathes  Castle   

facing 

116 

Edzell  Castle   

facing 

118 

Plan  of  Doune  Castle,  Ground  Floor  . 

145 

DouNE  Castle  

facing 

146 

Plan  of  Doune  Castle,  First  Floor 

149 

ziii 


xiv 


List  of  Illustrations 


PAGE 

HUNTINGTOWER  OR  RUTHVEN 

Castle 

facing 

156 

Elcho  Castle 

facing 

158 

St.  Andrews  Castle  . 

facing 

164 

Newark  Castle 

facing 

166 

Plan  of  Castle  Campbell 

180 

Castle  Campbell 

facing 

180 

Elevation  Plan  of  Castle  Campbell 

182 

Plan  of  Niddrie  Castle  . 

185 

Plan  of  Linlithgow  Palace 

• 

186 

Drawing  -  room,'Liniithgow  Palace,  whe 

RE  Queen 

Mary  Was  Born 

facing 

188 

Edinburgh  Castle 

facing 

192 

Edinburgh  Castle 

facing 

222 

Holyrood  Palace 

facing 

240 

Craigmillar  Castle  . 

facing 

248 

Plan  of  Craigmillar  Castle 

• 

250 

Dunbar  Castle  . 

facing 

276 

DiRLETON  Castle 

facing 

330 

Plan  of  Cessford  Castle 

• 

341 

Plans  of  Smailholm  Tower 

343 

Plan  of  Hermitage  Castle 

353 

Hermitage  Castle 

facing 

356 

Neidpath  Castle 

facing 

358 

Caerlaverock  Castle 

•  • 

facing 

370 

Threave  Castle 

facing 

376 

The  Castles  and  Keeps 
of  Scotland 


CHAPTER  I 

DEVELOPMENT  AJSTD  STYLES  OF  THE  CASTLES  OF 
SCOTLAND 

Though  the  fact  is  not  generally  recognized, 
and  may  easily  escape  the  attention  even  of  one 
travelling  in  Scotland,  if  he  keeps  to  the  usual 
track  of  tourists,  the  castles  and  old  mansions 
of  this  country  are  extremely  numerous.  As 
soon  as  one  leaves  the  railroad,  however,  and 
makes  excursions  by  road  into  any  of  the  more 
settled  parts  of  Scotland,  the  castles  become  a 
most  striking  and  picturesque  feature  of  the 
landscape.  Not  only  are  their  magnificent  out- 
lines attractive  in  themselves  and  admirably 
fitted  to  adorn  the  rugged  hills  and  gloomy 
glens  which  they  occupy,  but  their  historical 

associations  lend  them  the  added  charm  of  in- 

1 


2      Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


tense  human  interest.  They  revivify  for  us  the 
glorious  memories  of  Bruce  and  Wallace,  striv- 
ing for  the  independence  of  their  native  land. 
The  ancient  names  of  the  daring  Douglases  and 
other  great  clans,  the  exploits  of  a  long  line  of 
kings,  the  terrible  sieges  and  struggles  of  the 
English  wars,  leap  into  our  thoughts  as  we  scan 
these  scarred  and  mouldering  walls.  Above  all, 
most  dear  to  the  romantic  mind,  the  tragic 
memory  of  the  beautiful  and  unhappy  Mary 
Stuart  is  constantly  present,  as  we  travel  from 
castle  to  castle,  for  we  find  traditions  of  her 
attached  to  nearly  every  important  building  in 
Scotland. 

Even  the  most  casual  visitor  to  ecclesiastical 
edifices  in  any  part  of  Europe  soon  learns  to 
know  and  distinguish  the  various  styles  of 
architecture  which  prevailed  at  different  peri- 
ods, and  can  gauge  approximately  the  age  of 
a  building  by  its  prominent  features.  With 
castles  and  mansions  the  case  is  somewhat  dif- 
ferent. The  sequence  of  styles  is  not  so  obvi- 
ously marked,  and  the  differences  are  not  such 
as  to  impress  the  lay  visitor  unless  he  knows 
what  to  observe.  It  may  be  of  value,  or  at 
least  interest,  therefore,  to  give  a  short  sketch 
of  the  evolution  of  the  mediaeval  castle  and  its 
architectural  development  in  Scotland.  The 


Development  of  the  Castles  3 

style  of  domestic  architecture  at  different 
epochs  is  well  adapted  to  throw  a  flood  of  light 
on  the  manners  and  customs  of  those  who  lived 
in  them.  The  castles  not  only  show  forth  the 
comparative  condition  of  safety,  prosperity, 
and  neighbourly  intercourse  of  their  owners, 
but  make  it  easy  for  us  to  trace  the  growth 
of  civilization  through  the  centuries. 

Scotland  possesses  no  remains  of  Roman 
buildings.  Rome's  occupation  of  the  country 
was  so  partial  and  temporary  that  neither 
were  buildings  of  great  strength  erected,  nor 
were  the  natives  civilized  enough  to  imitate 
the  architecture  of  the  invaders.  The  usual 
fortifications  of  the  early  inhabitants  of 
northern  Europe  were  formed  of  ditches  and 
mounds  strengthened  by  wooden  palisades,  or 
were  artificial  islands  of  piles  set  in  the  midst 
of  lakes.  Many  remains  of  these  exist  in 
northern  Scotland.  There  are  also  north  of 
the  Tweed,  but  in  not  a  single  instance  south 
of  it,  numerous  "  brochs,"  or  round  towers 
constructed  of  uncemented  masonry.  These 
consist  of  a  thick  wall  around  a  central  well 
or  court.  The  staircase  and  numerous  small 
rooms  and  galleries  are  hollowed  out  of  this 
wall  and  lighted  by  windows  overlooking  the 
inner  court.   Though  strong  and  well  adapted 


4      Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


to  their  purpose,  they  are  all  of  Celtic  origin 
and  great  age,  and  had  no  effect  on  the  later 
development  of  castellated  architecture  in 
Scotland.  The  only  exception  to  this  state- 
ment is  that  some  of  the  later  castles  have  a 
series  of  wall  chambers,  whose  construction 
may  have  been  suggested  by  tradition  or  ob- 
servation of  these  strongholds. 

Development  of  the  Feudal  Castle  in  Gaul 

In  Gaul,  the  influence  of  the  architecture 
of  the  Romans  was  very  lasting.  When  they 
retired  from  that  region,  during  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries,  they  left  the  whole  country 
covered  with  towns,  houses,  and  castles  of  their 
building.  The  native  inhabitants  had  acquired 
their  civilization,  and  transmitted  much  of  it 
to  the  Goths  and  Franks  who  gradually  spread 
over  the  country.  The  ecclesiastical  architec- 
ture never  departed  from  Roman  models.  The 
basilica  was  and  is  the  universal  prototype  of 
the  Christian  church.  The  mediaeval  monas- 
tery was  a  direct  derivation  from  the  Roman 
house.  The  pillared  cloister  about  an  open 
court,  giving  access  to  a  series  of  surrounding 
apartments,  is  copied  from  the  peristyle  of  the 
Roman  city  house,  the  villa  urhana  of  the 


Development  of  the  Castles  5 


country  mansion.  The  villa  rustica  of  the 
Roman  house  became  the  outer  court  of  the 
monastery,  surrounded  by  its  stables  and 
storehouses,  and  the  tablina  was  turned  into 
the  chapter  house. 

The  country  houses  of  the  Franks  retained 
the  Roman  construction,  —  a  series  of  build- 
ings around  a  central  court.  The  outer  de- 
fences were  ditches,  and  palisades  erected  on 
a  mound.  In  the  centre,  on  another  mound, 
was  built  the  hall  of  the  chieftain,  thus  doubly 
defended.  These  structures  were  of  wood,  and 
were  common  among  both  Franks  and  Nor- 
mans on  the  Continent,  and  in  England.  The 
latter,  being  masons  by  instinct,  were  not  sat- 
isfied with  defences  so  easily  reduced  by  fire, 
and  substituted  a  tower  of  stone  and  mortar 
for  the  central  wooden  redoubt.  Thus,  toward 
the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  originated 
the  massive  and  gloomy  structure  known  as 
the  "  Norman  keep."  These  were  built  of 
great  strength  and  concentrated  in  themselves 
the  defensive  strength  of  the  castle,  the  out- 
works being  usually  unimportant.  After  the 
Norman  Conquest  they  became  common  in 
England  and  spread  to  the  very  borders  of 
Scotland,  one  standing  at  Carlisle  on  the  west, 
and  another  at  Norham  on  the  east.    But  not 


6      Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


one  was  ever  reared  on  Scottish  soil,  which 
thus  is  free  from  any  mark  of  Norman  domi- 
nation. 

The  Norman  keep,  in  its  typical  form,  was  a 
three-story  tower,  quadrangular  in  outline,  and 
with  walls  of  great  thickness.  The  ground 
floor  was  used  for  storerooms,  and  was  lighted 
only  by  a  very  few  small  loopholes.  The  en- 
trance was  on  the  first  floor,  and  was  reached 
by  a  movable  ladder,  or  later  was  defended  by 
a  forework  which  contained  a  stair.  The  gate- 
way opened  directly  into  the  great  hall,  where 
chieftain,  retainers  and  domestics  lived  by  day 
and  feasted  and  slept  by  night.  The  chieftain 
alone,  with  his  family,  had  a  private  apart- 
ment in  the  room  above,  reached  by  a  spiral 
stair  in  the  wall,  which  was  continued  to  the 
roof.  The  defence  of  the  keep  was  made  from 
the  parapet,  which  ran  around  the  top  of  the 
walls  and  was  provided  with  embrasures 
through  which  weapons  and  missiles  could  be 
showered  on  the  enemy  below.  As  the  walls 
of  the  keep  were  from  twelve  to  twenty  feet 
thick,  and  of  the  most  substantial  construction, 
such  a  fortress,  properly  provisioned  and  gar- 
risoned, was  able  to  withstand  any  means  of 
assault  known  at  the  period.  The  customary 
solidity  of  the  work  may  be  judged  by  the  fact 


Development  of  the  Castles  7 


that  in  the  last  century  it  took  six  weeks  to 
pierce  a  doorway  in  the  ground  floor  wall  of 
the  Tower  of  London,  though  the  builders 
were  aided  by  all  the  resources  of  modern 
science.  Though  the  Norman  keep  was  thus 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  needs  of  defence  so 
essential  to  its  owners  in  this  turbulent  period, 
it  was,  according  to  our  ideas,  absolutely  lack- 
ing in  domestic  comfort.  Yet  for  two  or  three 
centuries  the  nobles  of  England  lived  in  such 
abodes. 

The  Crusades  caused  great  changes  in  castle 
architecture.  Military  engines  were  intro- 
duced and  improved,  and  the  soldiers  of  Eu- 
rope learned  valuable  lessons  as  to  the  attack 
and  defence  of  fortresses.  Miners,  working 
under  "  cats,"  or  movable  sheds,  found  the 
square  corners  of  the  keeps  especially  vulner- 
able points  while  unprovided  with  flanking  de- 
fences. Improved  engines  easily  demolished 
the  parapets  by  hurling  huge  stones  and  ig- 
nited wooden  roofs  with  balls  of  Greek  fire. 

To  keep  these  engines  at  a  distance,  the 
walls  of  the  outer  keep  were  now  greatly  ex- 
tended and  strengthened,  becoming  the  prin- 
cipal strength  of  the  castle.  The  keep  became 
merely  the  place  of  last  resort,  and  was  gar- 
risoned by  the  lord  himself.    The  walls  were 


8      Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


furnished  with  towers  at  the  angles  and  along 
the  flanks,  to  defend  the  curtains  by  cross  fires. 
Each  of  these  was  an  independent  fortress, 
with  its  own  garrison  and  supplies,  furnished 
by  the  vassal  whose  duty  it  was  to  defend  it. 
This  style  of  castle  prevailed  in  both  France 
and  England  during  the  thirteenth  century, 
and  the  earliest  Scotch  castles  are  also  of  this 
type. 

First  Period  of  Scotch  Castle  Buildings 
1100  —  1300 

Until  this  period,  the  forts  of  Scotland  con- 
sisted of  the  ancient  wooden  hall  on  its  mound, 
surrounded  by  a  palisaded  mound  of  earth  or  a 
wall  of  stones  and  earth.  Macbeth  was  slain 
in  1057  at  the  peel  of  Lumphanan  on  Deeside, 
a  tower  of  this  construction.  During  the 
twelfth  century  great  changes  took  place  in 
the  condition  of  Scotland,  which  were  reflected 
in  the  style  of  building  castles.  The  Norman 
Conquest  had  driven  out  of  England  many 
Saxon  nobles.  King  Malcolm  Canmore,  hav- 
ing married  the  Saxon  Princess  Margaret,  re- 
ceived them  favourably,  and  established  them 
on  estates.  They  were  followed  by  hosts  of 
Norman  adventurers,  who  were  well  received 


Development  of  the  Castles  9 


by  David  I,  and  also  frequently  vested  with 
lands.  Desirous  of  firmly  establishing  them- 
selves, these  newcomers  naturally  raised  tow- 
ers on  the  plan  then  in  fashion  in  the  southern 
lands  whence  they  came.  Thus  were  intro- 
duced at  once  building  with  stone  and  mortar, 
and  castles  consisting  mainly  of  a  great  wall 
of  enceinte. 

As  the  Norman  lords  were  generally  given 
fiefs  on  the  outlying  borders  of  the  kingdom, 
which,  during  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies, was  gradually  extended  northwards 
and  westwards,  many  castles  of  this  type  were 
erected  in  these  parts  of  the  country.  A  num- 
ber of  them  still  survive  there,  while  in  the 
more  accessible  regions  they  have  been  either 
destroyed  or  rebuilt.  Several  of  them  will  be 
later  described,  including  Urquhart  and  Inver- 
lochy  on  the  Caledonian  Canal,  and  Dunstaff- 
nage,  built  to  dominate  the  Western  Islands. 

Professor  Cosmo  Innes,  in  his  book,  "  Scot- 
land in  the  Middle  Ages,''  mentions  the  fol- 
lowing castles  as  existing  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury: Duff  us  and  Bocharm,  in  Moray;  Ruth- 
ven  and  Lochindorb,  in  Badenoch;  Strathbol- 
gie,  Fyvie,  Inverurie,  Kildrummie  and  others 
in  Aberdeenshire;  Kincardine,  Brechin,  Red- 
castle,  Forfar,  Glamis,  Leuchars,  Craill  and 


10     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


St.  Andrews  in  the  east;  Dumbarton,  Both- 
well,  Douglas,  Rothesay  and  Turnberry  in  the 
west;  Edinburgh,  Stirling,  Linlithgow,  Dun- 
bar, Yester,  Roxburgh,  Jedburgh,  Lamberton, 
Morton,  Dalswinton,  Lochmaben,  and  Con- 
gleton  in  the  centre  and  south,  as  well  as  many 
others.  The  majority  of  these  have  either  dis- 
appeared or  have  been  entirely  remodelled,  but 
some  have  remained  to  show  us  that  their  gen- 
eral design  was  similar  to,  though  smaller 
than,  the  contemporary  castles  of  England 
and  France. 

The  castles  of  this  period  are  usually  quad- 
rilateral, with  necessary  changes  of  form  in 
some  cases  to  adapt  them  to  their  sites.  Some 
show  towers  at  one  or  more  angles,  but  all 
were  defended  by  crenelated  parapets,  behind 
which  a  walk  went  around  the  walls.  Lochin- 
dorb,  Inverlochy  and  Achencass  are  square 
with  corner  towers.  Duart,  Skipness,  Castle 
Swin  and  Castle  Roy  were  simple  parallelo- 
grams, two  of  them  having  one  or  two  square 
towers.  Loch  Doon  Castle,  Urquhart,  Home 
and  Mingarry  are  built  to  conform  to  the  out- 
line of  the  rocky  sites  they  occupy.  Rothesay 
is  oval  and  Caerlaverock  is  triangular,  both 
being  defended  by  moats.  These  castles  usu- 
ally had  curtain  walls  seven  to  nine  feet  thick 


Development  of  the  Castles  11 


and  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high.  Their  original 
towers  have  now  mostly  disappeared,  as  well 
as  parapets  and  rampart  walks.  Most  of  them 
depended  on  water  as  their  principal  defence, 
some  being  on  islands,  others  surrounded  by 
wet  ditches.  A  few  only  occupy  high  crags. 
They  were  mostly  large  enough  to  hold  the 
population  and  herds  of  the  tributary  territory 
in  case  of  siege,  but  not  of  exceptionally  fine 
construction.  In  the  central  parts  of  Scot- 
land, however,  where  good  freestone  abounds, 
and  where  the  influence  of  the  church  building 
so  frequent  in  Scotland  at  this  period  could  be 
felt,  some  large  and  finely  adorned  castles 
arose.  Remarkable  among  these  are  Bothwell, 
Kildrummie,  and  Dirleton,  the  latter  being  as 
finely  finished  architecturally  as  any  castle  in 
Scotland. 


Second  Period,  1300  —  1400 

During  the  reigns  of  Alexander  II  and 
Alexander  III,  Scotland  attained  to  a  state 
of  prosperity  and  influence  among  the  nations 
of  Europe  far  above  what  might  have  been 
expected  of  so  small  a  kingdom.  Her  ambas- 
sadors and  merchants  contracted  alliances  and 
carried  on  conmierce  with  many  nations.  Her 


12     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


knights  and  soldiers  were  numbered  with  the 
crusading  hosts.  Her  architecture  developed 
to  a  high  pitch,  and  not  only  buildings  of  de- 
fence, but  numerous  churches  and  monasteries 
were  erected  at  this  period. 

In  1286  this  state  of  prosperity  came  to  a 
sudden  and  tragic  close.  King  Alexander  III 
was  thrown  from  his  horse  and  killed  during 
a  foolhardy  night  ride.  His  only  descendant, 
the  Maid  of  Norway,  died  in  Orkney,  while 
coming  to  claim  her  throne. 

The  disputes  about  the  succession  paralyzed 
the  ordinary  activities  of  the  country,  and 
plunged  it  into  lasting  war.  Ten  years  later 
the  English  invaded  and  occupied  the  country, 
and  then  for  eighteen  years  the  Scotch  under 
Wallace  and  Bruce  struggled  to  free  their 
country  from  the  invader's  yoke.  Even  after 
Bannockburn,  a  constant  strife  with  the  Eng- 
lish had  to  be  maintained  until  the  weak  reign 
of  Richard  II  left  the  Scots  finally  free.  This 
hundred  years  of  strife  left  the  country  utterly 
impoverished.  It  had  been  devastated  over 
and  over  again.  Its  castles  were  destroyed  by 
the  sieges  of  the  English,  and  were  not  recon- 
structed on  their  former  scale.  The  owners, 
no  matter  how  high  their  rank,  could  not  af- 
ford extensive  works,  and  Bruce  forbade  the 


Development  of  the  Castles  13 


construction  of  large  castles,  which,  if  taken, 
afforded  secure  strongholds  to  the  invaders. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  nobles  fell 
back  on  the  plan  of  the  Norman  keep,  aban- 
doned in  both  France  and  England  for  two 
hundred  years.  Owing  to  the  poverty  of  the 
country,  they  were  all  small;  no  large  castle 
was  built  in  Scotland  during  the  fourteenth 
century.  They  were  little  more  than  secure 
places  to  protect  the  owner's  family  and  close 
retainers  from  sudden  attack.  Being  entirely 
of  stone,  they  contained  little  which  could  be 
burned,  and  after  capture  by  an  enemy,  if  he 
damaged  them  to  the  extent  of  his  power,  a 
little  cleaning  and  a  new  roof  restored  them  to 
a  habitable  condition. 

The  Scottish  keep,  like  the  Norman,  usually 
was  a  three-storied  tower.  The  basement  was 
invariably  vaulted  and  used  for  stores,  or  a 
stable.  Very  often  its  only  communication 
with  the  hall  above  was  through  a  trap  in  the 
vault.  The  first  floor  was  the  hall,  and  the 
entrance  door  opened  into  this,  being  reached 
by  a  ladder  or  movable  stair.  In  this  hall  re- 
tainers, guests  and  domestics  fed  and  slept  in- 
discriminately, no  privacy  for  man  or  woman 
being  possible.  This  hall  was  usually  fur- 
nished with  a  wooden  floor  midway  of  its 


14     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


height,  forming  a  chamber  in  the  vault,  as  is 
everywhere  evidenced  by  the  rows  of  support- 
ing corbels  to  be  seen  in  the  walls.  The  second 
floor  was  the  private  apartment  of  the  chief- 
tain and  his  family,  w^ho  also  had  a  loft  in  the 
roof,  as  a  general  thing.  The  roof  was  usually 
formed  of  stone  slabs  laid  on  a  pointed  arch, 
to  render  the  whole  fireproof,  but  in  the 
smaller  peels  was  of  wood.  The  defence  was 
undertaken  from  the  parapet  at  the  roof, 
which  ran  completely  around  the  tower,  ex- 
panding into  rounded  angles  or  bartizans  at 
the  corners.  The  walls  were  of  great  thick- 
ness, usually  carrying  spiral  staircases,  small 
closets  for  bed  places,  retiring  rooms,  etc.,  in 
their  structure. 

The  accommodation  of  these  towers  was  so 
circumscribed  that  they  often  were  added  to 
by  a  small  square  projection  at  one  corner, 
giving  an  additional  room  on  each  floor.  Be- 
sides this,  there  is  little  doubt  that  practically 
all  these  keeps  had  a  courtyard  attached,  sur- 
rounded by  a  high  wall.  This  contained  the 
stables  and  offices,  and  was  an  additional  pro- 
tection against  sudden  assault. 

Although  the  accommodation  of  these  four- 
teenth century  castles  was  of  the  most  meagre 
description,  there  was  one  room  which  they 


Development  of  the  Castles  15 


never  lacked,  the  "  pit "  or  prison.  This  was 
an  adjunct  of  some  importance  when  every 
chieftain  possessed  the  power  of  "  pit  and 
gallows  "  and  could  confine  and  hang  his  vas- 
sals as  seemed  to  him  right.  The  pit  was  a 
small  chamber  from  six  to  nine  feet  long,  and 
three  or  four  wide,  inside  the  wall,  and  reached 
only  by  a  stone  hatch  in  the  floor  of  the  guard- 
room or  hall  above.  This  had  no  window,  but 
was  ventilated  by  a  small  diagonal  shaft  run- 
ning up  to  the  open  air.  Prisoners  were  never 
executed  here,  as  is  often  alleged  by  guides, 
but  were  publicly  suspended  on  a  large  gal- 
lows-tree near  the  castle,  for  the  edification  of 
the  lord  and  as  an  example  to  the  surrounding 
population. 

Ornamentation  was  entirely  absent  from 
these  castles.  The  parapets  and  bartizans 
sometimes  were  carried  on  corbels  of  the  sim- 
plest kind,  and  these,  with  a  few  plain  gar- 
goyles to  drain  off  the  rain  from  the  parapet 
walks,  were  the  only  things  which  broke  the 
stern  severity  of  the  grim  towers. 

As  the  proprietors  of  these  castles  felt  the 
need  for  more  space,  various  expedients  were 
resorted  to.  As  mentioned  before,  in  some 
cases  a  small  addition  was  built  on  one  corner, 
making  the  so-called  L  plan.  Sometimes 


16     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


these  had  many  more  low  floors  than  the  main 
keep,  access  to  these  pigeon-holes  being  gained 
from  a  circular  stair.  In  other  cases  numerous 
small  rooms  were  hollowed  out  of  the  walls, 
occasionally  two  tiers  to  a  single  story.  Later 
keeps  also  had  a  fourth  story  added  to  the 
main  building.  Some  forms  of  decoration 
were  occasionally  added  both  to  exterior  and 
interior. 

During  the  whole  century  which  succeeded 
Bannockburn,  all  the  castles  erected  were  of 
the  simple  keep  pattern.  From  the  smallest 
proprietor  to  the  king  himself,  this  was  the 
case.  At  Rothesay,  the  keep  was  added  to 
the  ancient  circular  wall  of  enceinte,  and 
Dundonald,  in  which  Robert  II  lived  and  died, 
is  but  a  plain  keep,  about  forty  by  eighty  feet. 
This  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  ordinary 
keeps  of  the  nobles,  which  vary  from  twenty 
by  forty  feet  to  as  large  as  forty  by  sixty,  but 
are  seldom  larger.  Not  only  were  these  small 
buildings  sufficient  for  the  nobles  of  this 
period,  but  even  down  to  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury the  keep  was  the  ordinary  pattern  of 
mansion  built  and  occupied  by  the  smaller 
proprietors,  who  would  thus  seem  to  have  paid 
little  more  attention  to  the  amenities  of  do- 


Development  of  the  Castles  17 


mestic  life  than  their  ancestors  of  the  time 
of  Bruce. 

Some  of  the  more  notable  castles  of  this 
period,  many  of  them  now  being  of  great  size 
by  reason  of  later  additions,  are  Lochleven, 
Drum,  Threave,  Neidpath,  Craigmillar,  Crich- 
ton,  Castle  Campbell,  Aros,  etc. 

Third  Period,  1400  —  1542 

By  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
coimtry  was  more  settled  and  beginning  to 
recover  from  the  exhaustion  of  its  wars.  The 
wealthier  nobles  began  to  desire  better  dwell- 
ings, and  turned  for  models  to  England  and 
France.  Castles  began  to  be  erected  in  the 
form  of  structures  surrounding  a  courtyard 
or  quadrangle.  At  first  the  buildings  were 
attached  here  and  there  to  the  walls  of  the 
outer  courtyard  as  convenience  dictated. 
Many  of  the  older  keeps  were  greatly  added 
to  at  this  period,  and  others  were  built  on  the 
new  plan.  Gradually  the  capricious  arrange- 
ment of  rooms  gave  place  to  a  settled  plan, 
which  was  developed  to  its  highest  point  in  the 
royal  palaces  of  Linlithgow  and  Stirling,  as 
complete  in  arrangement  as  the  royal  build- 
ings of  other  countries.    The  smaller  castles 


18     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


filially  came  to  be  built  on  a  well-understood 
plan.  The  great  hall  was  in  the  centre,  with 
the  kitchen,  pantry  and  buttery  at  the  en- 
trance end,  and  beyond  the  dais  end  the  lord's 
solar  or  private  apartment.  Above  this  were 
bedrooms,  and  below  the  wine  cellar.  In  the 
more  magnificent  castles  built  on  this  plan  in 
other  countries,  the  rooms  were  more  numerous, 
banqueting  halls,  halls  of  justice,  reception 
rooms,  etc.,  being  added,  until  the  building 
finally  became  a  complete  quadrangle  about 
a  central  court.  No  complete  quadrangle  in 
a  private  castle  of  this  period  exists  in  Scot- 
land, but  at  Tantallon,  Dirleton  and  Doune, 
the  courtyard  buildings  were  doubtless  much 
more  extensive  than  at  present.  At  Doune 
the  large  windows  in  the  wall  of  enceinte 
show  that  the  intention  was  to  completely  sur- 
round the  court  with  buildings.  The  great 
royal  palaces  of  Stirling  and  Linlithgow  are 
the  most  perfect  examples  of  the  courtyard 
plan  of  this  period.  They  are  not  only  large 
enough  for  commodious  private  apartments 
for  the  Court,  but  also  contain  a  parliament 
hall,  chapel,  drawing  rooms,  banqueting  hall, 
etc.  They  thus  prove  that  by  the  time  of 
James  IV  and  V  the  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try had  again  reached  such  a  pitch  that  the 


Development  of  the  Castles  19 


Court  lived  in  dignified  state,  and  was  able  to 
suitably  receive  and  entertain  distinguished 
guests. 

On  the  whole  the  castles  of  this  period  still 
show  that  they  were  built  for  defence,  in  spite 
of  the  increasing  amelioration  of  manners  and 
decreasing  fear  of  foreign  invasion.  Al- 
though the  interiors  begin  to  show  ornamenta- 
tion of  a  rude  character,  the  exteriors  are  still 
as  rugged  and  forbidding  as  in  the  preceding 
period.  The  use  of  artillery,  though  it  came 
into  vogue  during  this  period,  had  not  ad- 
vanced far  enough  to  make  it  evident  that 
small  castles  could  no  longer  be  defended 
against  a  determined  siege,  and  only  the 
larger  structures,  notably  Tantallon,  show  em- 
brasures for  cannon  dating  from  this  century. 

During  this  period,  as  also  later,  many  sim- 
ple keeps  were  built.  Another  common  plan 
is  the  L  type,  with  a  doorway  or  stair  tower 
in  the  re-entering  angle,  where  it  was  easily 
defensible. 

The  usual  means  of  defence  at  this  period 
was  still  from  the  parapet,  which  is  machico- 
lated  in  a  great  number  of  instances.  The 
entrance  doorways  were  often  on  the  ground 
floor,  for  greater  ease  of  access,  and  were 
usually  defended  by  oaken  doors  secured  by 


20     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


bars,  and  iron  grates  or  "  yetts."  At  Doune 
and  Tantallon  the  entrance  is  by  an  archway 
under  the  hall,  easily  defended  by  gates  and 
portcullises,  and  commanded  from  guard- 
rooms at  the  sides  and  openings  in  the  floor 
above. 

Fourth  Period,  after  1542 

The  third  period  of  Scottish  castle  building 
closed  with  the  death  of  James  V  in  1542. 
The  long  minority  and  troubled  reign  of 
Queen  Mary  were  very  unfavourable  for 
architectural  development,  and  few  existing 
buildings  date  from  this  time.  This,  with 
other  circumstances,  combined  to  produce  a 
distinct  break  in  the  development  of  domestic 
architecture.  Let  us  briefly  enumerate  these 
factors. 

The  most  important  was  the  development 
of  artillery  until  it  became  the  principal 
weapon  in  sieges.  The  use  of  great  guns  was 
not  unknown  in  the  preceding  period,  and 
large  splayed  embrasures  had  been  provided 
at  Tantallon  and  one  or  two  other  castles. 
Experience  soon  showed,  however,  that  the  or- 
dinary castles  of  the  nobility  were  entirely  un- 
able to  withstand  the  attacks  of  siege  artillery. 
Such  fortresses  as  Dunbar,  Dumbarton,  Edin- 


Development  of  the  Castles  21 


burgh  and  Stirling  were  well  equipped  for 
the  national  defence,  but  the  castles  of  the 
nobles  as  a  general  rule  did  not  possess  artil- 
lery. These  proprietors  henceforth  contented 
themselves  with  equipping  their  mansions  to 
resist  sudden  attack  and  this  caused  a  gradual 
change  of  plan  and  construction. 

Another  event  of  great  importance  was  the 
Reformation.  This  movement  led  to  the  secu- 
larization of  all  the  lands  and  possessions  of 
the  Church.  Those  who  had  the  power  to 
seize  and  keep  the  lands,  that  is,  the  nobility 
and  gentry,  were  suddenly  enriched  and  began 
to  build  new  houses,  or  enlarge  their  old  ones. 
With  the  Union  under  James  VI  English 
manners  and  the  Renaissance  style  began  to 
be  introduced  into  Scotland,  and  had  their 
effect  on  building. 

The  net  result  of  these  causes  during  this, 
the  final  period  of  castle  building,  was  the 
gradual  evolution  from  fortified  castles  to 
strong  mansions,  and  finally  to  country  houses 
without  defence.  During  most  of  this  period, 
the  mansions  are  in  no  sense  castles,  but  they 
retain  this  title  by  courtesy,  and  many  of  them 
are  worthy  of  our  attention. 

During  this  period,  as  well  as  earlier,  many 
simple  keeps  were  built,  especially  as  Border 


22     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


peel  towers.  The  L  plan  is  also  a  favourite, 
as  affording  good  protection  to  the  entrance. 
A  new  and  entirely  Scotch  plan  is  very  com- 
mon. This  has  been  called  the  zigzag  or  Z 
plan.  It  consists  of  a  central  tower  with 
smaller  towers  or  turrets  built  out  at  two  op- 
posite corners.  This  created  a  re-entrant 
angle  on  each  face  of  the  keep,  and  enabled 
every  part  of  the  wall  to  be  flanked  by  mus- 
ketry fire.  Numerous  varieties  of  this  plan 
with  one  or  two  towers  attached  in  various 
ways  were  tried,  but  the  rapidly  diminishing 
necessity  for  defensive  structures  caused  many 
of  them  to  disappear,  so  that  only  the  L 
plan,  the  T  plan  and  the  courtyard  plan  have 
survived  to  modern  times. 

A  great  diversity  of  internal  arrangements 
may  be  found  in  these  later  castles  and  man- 
sions. In  early  castles  the  wine  cellar  was  in- 
variably below  the  hall,  and  furnished  with  a 
private  stair,  so  that  its  contents  were  always 
imder  the  lord's  eye,  and  could  be  brought 
directly  into  the  hall  at  meal  times.  The 
ground  floor  was  also  used  for  storing  large 
quantities  of  provisions,  as  it  was  necessary  to 
be  always  equipped  for  a  siege.  As  the  se- 
curity of  the  country  became  greater,  and 
settled  peace  was  finally  the  normal  condition, 


Development  of  the  Castles  23 


the  ground  floor  began  to  be  invaded  by  the 
kitchen  and  offices,  and  finally  by  the  living 
rooms  also,  leaving  the  upper  floors  entirely 
free  for  sleeping  and  private  apartments. 

The  ornamentation  of  castles  assumed  great 
importance  during  this  period.  In  all  previous 
castle  building,  corbels  to  carry  floors  and  par- 
apet were  invariable  features  of  Scotch  archi- 
tecture. In  the  sixteenth  century,  while  still 
structural  necessities,  they  were  greatly  exag- 
gerated for  decorative  effect.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century  they  were  freely  employed  as 
decorative  features  without  any  structiu'al  util- 
ity. The  open  bartizans,  usually  provided  at 
the  corners  of  the  parapets  in  earlier  castles, 
began  to  be  roofed  in  about  the  beginning  of 
this  period,  and  peaked  turrets  soon  became  a 
most  picturesque  feature  of  Scotch  buildings, 
sometimes  being  small  and  used  only  for  deco- 
ration, and  again  being  large  enough  for 
small  apartments.  The  parapets  themselves 
were  absorbed  in  the  roof,  the  eaves  being  at 
their  top,  with  dormer  windows  and  crow- 
stepped  gables  rising  above. 

As  a  result  of  the  desire  for  decoration  of 
all  kinds,  a  Scottish  castle  of  the  latest  period 
presented  a  most  fantastic  and  picturesque 
appearance.     It  usually  started  from  the 


24     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ground  as  a  plain  and  simple  masonry  tower, 
but  by  means  of  jutting  corbels  and  over- 
hanging stories,  often  of  quite  different  and 
much  larger  plan,  it  offered  ample  accommo- 
dation in  the  upper  parts.  It  was  beset  with 
a  multitude  of  angle  turrets  and  corner  towers 
and  its  sky  line  was  a  mass  of  crow-steps, 
peaked  and  conical  roofs  and  iron  finials. 

The  last  stage  of  castellated  architecture  is 
a  simplification  toward  the  symmetry  and  plan 
of  the  English  mansion.  Possessing  no  means 
of  defence  it  can  be  called  a  castle  only  by 
courtesy  and  does  not  come  within  the  prov- 
ince of  this  book. 

In  fact,  the  author's  task  has  not  led  him 
to  the  inspection  of  many  houses  of  the  later 
periods.  Having  in  most  cases  escaped  the 
vicissitudes  of  war  and  time,  they  have  been 
continuously  occupied  to  the  present  day. 
They  have  thus  been  modernized  in  many 
cases  and  fail  to  appeal  to  lovers  of  the  pic- 
turesque. They  also  lack  the  romantic  history 
of  the  older  structures.  When  to  these  reasons 
is  added  the  habitual  unwillingness  of  the 
Scotch  gentry  to  admit  the  casual  traveller 
to  their  grounds,  it  will  be  apparent  why  the 
photographs  and  descriptions   are  confined 


Development  of  the  Castles  25 


mostly  to  those  older  structures  which  are  now 
public  property  or  generously  opened  to  pub- 
lic inspection  by  the  courtesy  of  their  present 
owners. 


CHAPTER  II 


CASTLES  NEAB,  GLASGOW 

Dumbarton  Castle  and  Rock 

To  him  who  enters  Scotland  by  her  western 
gate,  the  River  Clyde,  there  rises  majestic 
from  its  low  and  level  northern  bank  the  cleft 
basaltic  pile  of  Dmnbarton  Rock,  crowned  and 
walled  about  with  a  fortress  which,  since  im- 
memorial time,  has  been  a  stronghold  of  re- 
nown. Once  its  name  was  Dunbriton,  "  the 
Briton's  Rock,"  but  even  before  that  ancient 
tribe  gave  it  a  name,  it  was  a  fortress;  the 
Venerable  Bede  tells  of  the  days  when  it  was 
simply  Alcluyd,  "  the  Rock  upon  the  Clyde." 
In  his  days  it  was  capital  of  a  kingdom, 
Strathclyde.  Long  before  this  the  Roman 
galleys,  patrolling  the  western  waters,  creep- 
ing timidly  out  to  Ultima  Thule,  made  this 
their  station  and  winter  port,  named  Theo- 
dosia.  Then  a  Roman  fort  crowned  the  sum- 
mit, and  bulwarked  the  end  of  Antonine's  de- 
fensive wall.    What  it  was  earlier,  and  what 

26 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  27 


skin-robed  tribe  first  held  its  summit,  is  and 
shall  be  unknown,  but  certain  we  may  be  that 
it  has  been  a  refuge  and  a  strength  in  this 
low  land  ever  since  human  eyes  first  beheld  it. 

The  Rock  of  Dumbarton  is  a  basalt  mass, 
upthrust  by  primeval  fires  through  the  red 
sandstone.  Thus  it  resembles  Ailsa  Craig,  the 
Bass  Rock,  Stirling  Castle  Rock  and  Abbey 
Craig,  its  neighbour,  and  other  sharp -featured 
cliffs  throughout  South  Scotland.  Five  hun- 
dred and  sixty  feet  in  height,  a  mile  about  its 
base,  it  precipitously  overhangs  the  Clyde  and 
the  Leven  where  they  join.  A  deep  and  nar- 
row cleft  bifurcates  the  rock,  giving  it  the 
shape  of  a  mitre,  the  western  half,  called 
Wallace's  Seat,  being  slightly  higher.  On  it 
still  grows  the  Scotch  thistle,  a  rare  plant  in 
its  native  country,  recalling  Ossian's  descrip- 
tion of  Balclutha,  as  he  names  the  rock :  "  The 
thistle  shakes  there  its  lovely  head." 

The  castle  of  Dumbarton  is  to-day  a  forti- 
fication of  little  account.  Since  cannon  have 
been  employed  in  warfare  it  has  been  com- 
mandable  by  the  rocky  hill  of  Dumbuck,  a 
mile  away;  nevertheless  it  is  still  garrisoned 
and  will  be  while  England  remains  a  military 
power,  for  it  is  one  of  the  four  fortresses  of 
Scotland  appointed,  at  the  Union,  to  be  for- 


28     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ever  held  defensible.  The  buildings  are  small, 
and  the  ramparts  weak ;  its  frowning  guns  are 
ancient  smoothbores;  but  it  holds  a  phantasm 
of  domination  over  the  great  commercial  river, 
and  offers  to  the  eye  a  picturesque  vision  of 
old-time  military  strength. 

Of  its  history  much  is  lost.  After  the 
Roman  era  it  was  taken  as  a  fortress  by  the 
Britons,  and  was  their  chief  stronghold  in  the 
eighth  century.  In  756  it  is  said  to  have  been 
reduced  through  famine  by  Egbert  of  North- 
umberland. In  spite  of  this  tradition,  it  has 
ever  been  esteemed  so  strong  that  it  has  never 
passed  out  of  the  possession  of  the  Crown,  but 
has  been  continuously  a  royal  castle.  The 
town  of  Dumbarton  was  the  chief  seat  of  the 
Earls  of  Lennox,  but  when  Alexander  II  con- 
firmed Earl  Maldwyn  in  his  estates  early  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  the  castle  and  some 
surrounding  land  were  specially  reserved,  and 
erected  into  a  free  burgh  royal,  with  extensive 
rights  to  levy  dues  on  Clydeborne  commerce. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  competition 
for  the  crown  of  Scotland  between  Bruce  and 
Baliol,  Dumbarton,  with  the  other  royal 
strongholds,  was  delivered  over  to  Edward  I, 
and  in  1292  was  given  to  Baliol  as  one  of  the 
appurtenances  of  his  crown.    In  1296  it  was 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  29 


again  occupied  by  the  English  under  the  gov- 
ernorship of  Alexander  de  Ledes.  In  1305 
Sir  William  Wallace,  loaded  with  chains,  was 
sent  from  Dumbarton  to  London,  and  for  the 
next  four  years  the  castle  was  governed  by 
Sir  John  Menteith,  his  alleged  betrayer.  In 
1309  Robert  Bruce  gained  the  castle  by 
stratagem,  but  how  is  not  recorded.  We  know 
only  that  the  capture  was  planned  and  exe- 
cuted by  "  Oliver,  a  carpenter,"  who  received 
for  it  a  grant  of  lands. 

Over  and  over  again  in  the  next  two  hun- 
dred years,  the  castle  changed  hands,  some- 
times peacefully,  again  by  treachery  or  force. 
At  whiles  it  was  besieged  in  vain,  as  in  1481 
by  an  English  fleet.  It  was  the  naval  head- 
quarters of  Scotland  on  the  west  coast,  and 
here  was  fitted  out  the  little  squadron  which 
was  uselessly  dispatched  against  England 
shortly  before  Flodden. 

After  the  battle  of  Pinkie  in  1547,  the  care 
of  little  Queen  Mary  was  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance and  she  was  brought  to  Dumbarton 
from  the  island  of  Inchmahone  in  Lake  Men- 
teith in  Perthshire.  Nearly  two  years  she 
remained  here,  and  then,  when  not  yet  five 
years  old,  she  was  handed  over  to  Monsieur 
de  Breze,  sent  by  Henri  II  to  conduct  her  to 


30     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


France.  Fifteen  years  later  she  revisited  the 
castle  on  a  royal  progress,  and  even  after  her 
dethronement  Lord  Fleming  faithfully  held 
the  castle  for  her.  It  had  been  her  goal  when 
her  little  army  was  intercepted  and  defeated 
by  the  Regent  Moray  at  Langside,  near  Glas- 
gow. The  fortress  held  out  until  May,  1571, 
when  it  was  most  gallantly  captured  by  a 
force  sent  by  the  Regent,  the  Earl  of  Lennox, 
as  is  thus  detailed  by  Tytler: 

"  Captain  Crawford  of  Jordanhill,  to  whom 
the  attack  was  intrusted,  had  been  long  at- 
tached to  the  house  of  Lennox.  He  was  the 
same  person  whose  evidence  was  so  important 
regarding  the  death  of  Darnley,  and  who  af- 
terwards accused  Lethington  of  participation 
in  the  murder,  since  which  time  he  appears  to 
have  followed  the  profession  of  arms.  In  the 
enterprise  he  was  assisted  by  Cunningham, 
commonly  called  the  Laird  of  Drumwhassel, 
one  of  the  bravest  and  most  skilful  officers  of 
his  time,  and  he  had  been  fortunate  in  secur- 
ing the  assistance  of  a  man  named  Robertson, 
who,  having  once  been  warden  in  the  castle, 
knew  every  step  upon  the  rock  familiarly,  and 
for  a  bribe  consented  to  betray  it.  With  this 
man,  Crawford  and  his  company  marched 
from  Glasgow  after  sunset.    He  had  sent 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  31 


before  him  a  few  light  horse,  who  prevented 
intelligence  by  stopping  all  passengers,  and 
arrived  about  midnight  at  Dumbuck,  within 
a  mile  of  the  castle,  where  he  was  joined  by 
Drumwhassel  and  Captain  Hume,  with  a  hun- 
dred men.  Here  he  explained  to  the  soldiers 
the  hazardous  service  on  which  they  were  to 
be  employed,  provided  them  with  ropes  and 
scaling  ladders,  and  advancing  with  silence 
and  celerity,  reached  the  rock,  the  summit  of 
which  was  fortunately  involved  in  a  heavy  fog, 
whilst  the  bottom  was  clear.  But,  on  the  first 
attempt,  all  was  likely  to  be  lost.  The  lad- 
ders lost  their  hold  while  the  soldiers  were 
upon  them;  and  had  the  garrison  been  on  the 
alert,  the  noise  must  inevitably  have  betrayed 
them.  They  listened,  however,  and  all  was  still. 
Again  their  ladders  were  fixed,  and  their  steel 
hooks  this  time  catching  firmly  in  the  crevices, 
they  gained  a  small  jutting-out  ledge,  where 
an  ash  tree  had  struck  its  roots,  which  assisted 
them  as  they  fixed  the  ropes  to  its  branches, 
and  thus  speedily  towed  up  both  the  ladders 
and  the  rest  of  their  companions.  They  were 
still,  however,  far  from  their  object.  They 
had  reached  but  the  middle  of  the  rock,  day 
was  breaking,  and  when,  for  the  second  time, 
they  placed  their  ladders,  an  extraordinary 


32     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


impediment  occurred.  One  of  the  soldiers  in 
ascending  was  seized  with  a  fit,  in  which  he 
convulsively  grasped  the  steps  so  firmly,  that 
no  one  could  either  pass  him,  or  unloose  his 
hold.  But  Crawford's  presence  of  mind  sug- 
gested a  ready  expedient;  he  tied  him  to  the 
ladder,  turned  it,  and  easily  ascended  with  the 
rest  of  his  men.  They  were  now  at  the  bottom 
of  the  wall,  where  the  footing  was  narrow  and 
precarious;  but  once  more  fixing  their  lad- 
ders in  the  copestone,  Alexander  Ramsay, 
Crawford's  ensign,  with  two  other  soldiers, 
stole  up,  and  though  instantly  discovered  on 
the  summit  by  the  sentinel  who  gave  the  alarm, 
leapt  down  and  slew  him,  sustaining  the  at- 
tack of  three  of  the  guard  till  he  was  joined 
by  Crawford  and  his  soldiers.  Their  weight 
and  struggles  to  surmount  it,  now  brought 
down  the  old  wall  and  afforded  an  open 
breach,  through  which  they  rushed  in,  shout- 
ing 'a  Darnley,  a  Darnley!'  Crawford's 
watchword,  given  evidently  from  affection  to 
his  unfortunate  master,  the  late  king.  The 
garrison  were  panic-struck,  and  did  not  at- 
tempt resistance." 

Lord  Fleming,  from  long  knowledge  of  the 
place,  was  able  to  make  his  escape  down  an 
almost  perpendicular  cleft  or  ravine  in  the 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  33 


face  of  the  rock,  and  reached  Argyllshire  in 
a  fishing  boat.  Lady  Fleming  was  very  cour- 
teously treated  and  eventually  allowed  to  de- 
part with  all  her  plate  and  furniture.  Not  so 
fortunate  was  Archibald  Hamilton,  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  who  was  taken  to 
Stirling  and  cruelly  hanged  on  a  tree. 

Later  the  castle  was  used  as  a  state  prison. 
The  most  important  prisoner  was  the  ex- 
Regent  Morton,  sent  here  in  December,  1580, 
and  removed  to  Edinburgh  a  few  months 
later,  to  be  tried  and  condemned  for  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  murder  of  Darnley. 

During  the  civil  war  Dumbarton  changed 
hands  three  times,  and  finally  was  garrisoned 
by  Cromwell  in  1652.  At  present  it  has  a 
small  garrison,  and  in  the  armoury  are  a  few 
relics,  among  them  a  two-handed  sword  which 
belonged  to  Sir  William  Wallace. 

Craignethan  or  Tillietudlem 

Craignethan  Castle,  one  of  the  stock  show 
places  of  Scotland,  lies  about  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  from  the  town  of  Crossford,  on  the 
craggy  banks  of  the  Nethan,  a  mile  above  its 
junction  with  the  Clyde.  The  banks  of  the 
river  are  bold  and  picturesque,  and  the  castle, 


34     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


placed  on  a  high  promontory  at  a  bend  in  the 
stream,  occupies  a  situation  which  was  both 
beautiful  and  defensible.  The  former  quali- 
fication presumably  did  not  appeal  to  the 
builders,  though  it  now  is  an  important  factor 
in  the  pleasure  of  the  numerous  visitors  to  the 
spot. 

The  great  attractiveness  of  the  castle  to  vis- 
itors lies  in  the  charm  of  romance  added  by  the 
identification  of  the  ruins  with  Scott's  castle 
of  TiUietudlem,  described  in  "  Old  Mortality." 
For  this  we  have  Scott's  partial  authority,  as 
follows : 

"  The  Castle  of  TiUietudlem  is  imaginary; 
but  the  ruins  of  Craignethan  situated  on  the 
Nethan  about  three  [actually  one]  miles  from 
its  junction  with  the  Clyde,  have  something 
of  the  character  of  the  description  in  the  text." 

The  Castle  of  Craignethan  is  usually  visited 
by  a  round  trip  excursion  from  Glasgow  which 
also  takes  in  the  Falls  of  the  Clyde.  A  short 
walk  from  Crossford  brings  us  to  the  foot  of 
the  hill  on  which  the  castle  stands,  which  we 
climb  by  a  zigzag  path.  At  the  top  we  find 
ourselves  before  the  west  front  of  the  castle. 
This  is  a  battlemented  wall  with  an  arched 
gateway  in  the  centre  and  square  towers  at 
each  corner.    The  front  is  well  provided  with 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  35 


embrasures  for  cannon,  and  impresses  the 
average  visitor  as  a  most  martial  fa9ade. 

Passing  through  the  gateway,  we  find  our- 
selves in  the  outer  courtyard,  one  hundred  and 
ninety  by  one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  di- 
mension. This  is  surrounded  by  a  continuous 
battlemented  wall  nearly  four  feet  thick,  and 
well  provided  with  embrasures  for  guns.  The 
courtyard  contains  some  lean-to  buildings  of 
the  same  date  as  the  wails,  and  a  house  erected 
by  Andrew  Hay,  who  bought  the  castle  in 
1665.  The  inner  court  is  reached  through  a 
narrow  gateway,  formerly  defended  by  a  port- 
cullis. This  gave  on  to  a  drawbridge  over  the 
moat,  which  was  thirty  feet  wide  and  twelve 
feet  deep,  and  faced  with  stone.  The  west 
wall  of  the  inner  courtyard  was  sixteen  feet 
thick,  probably  to  furnish  an  adequate  plat- 
form for  heavy  artillery.  It  is  now  very  ruin- 
ous, but  the  south  wall  is  fairly  well  preserved. 
This  was  defended  by  two  towers  with  em- 
brasures for  guns. 

The  keep  is  the  oldest  part  of  the  building. 
It  is  built  on  an  unusual  plan,  being  divided 
longitudinally  into  two  compartments  by  an 
internal  wall.  The  principal  floor  is  on  the 
ground  level,  instead  of  being  raised  one  story, 
and  there  is  a  vaulted  underground  basement. 


36     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  entrance  door  is  an  arch,  defended  by 
double  doors  and  a  bar,  but  without  a  portcul- 
lis. Inside  is  a  lobby  with  a  staircase  leading 
up  and  down,  and  beyond  is  the  vaulted  hall, 
forty  feet  by  twenty.  On  the  north  side  are 
the  private  hall  and  a  guard-room,  both  with 
newel  stairs  to  the  apartments  above,  which 
are  so  ruined  as  to  be  inaccessible.  In  the 
vaulted  basement  is  a  well  faced  with  cut  stone. 
The  keep  has  battlements  supported  by  a 
double  row  of  corbels,  and  open  bartizans  at 
the  angles. 

The  southeast  tower,  reached  by  a  narrow 
passage  between  the  wall  and  the  keep,  is 
very  large,  and  contains  on  the  ground  floor 
the  kitchen.  This  has  a  large  fireplace  which 
was  provided  with  machinery  on  which  whole 
animals  could  be  roasted.  Below  this  is  a 
vaulted  basement,  and  above  a  gun  room,  pro- 
vided with  horizontal  embrasures. 

Probably  most  of  the  castle  was  built  by 
Sir  James  Hamilton  of  Finnart,  Superintend- 
ent of  the  Royal  Palaces  and  Castles  for 
J ames  V  in  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, but  the  keep  was  undoubtedly  built  much 
earlier.  The  estate  was  originally  known  as 
DrafFane,  and  was  acquired  by  James,  Lord 


Bothwell  Casile 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  37 


Hamilton,  in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. 

Bothwell  Castle 

Another  castle  of  Lanarkshire,  which  by  its 
easy  accessibility  and  the  majesty  of  its  ruins 
and  surroundings  attracts  many  visitors,  is 
Bothwell,  on  the  Clyde.  This  may  be  visited 
on  Tuesday  and  Friday  from  nine  till  five, 
except  when  the  family  are  at  home,  in  which 
case  it  can  be  seen  on  Tuesdays  only. 

This  is  the  grandest  thirteenth  century  ruin 
in  Scotland.  It  stands  on  a  high  and  rocky 
promontory  overlooking  the  Clyde,  and  was 
defended  on  the  landward  side  by  a  deep  and 
wide  moat.  The  castle  consists  of  an  enormous 
courtyard,  with  high  walls  of  enceinte.  At 
one  end  of  this  was  the  great  donjon,  domi- 
nating the  whole,  and  surrounded  by  its  own 
moat.  The  walls  were  strengthened  by  several 
round  and  square  towers.  The  total  length  of 
the  castle  is  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
feet,  and  it  is  nearly  as  wide,  thus  ranking 
with  the  largest  castles  of  Scotland. 

The  keep  is  sixty-five  feet  in  diameter  and 
ninety  feet  high,  with  walls  fifteen  feet  thick. 
It  has  several  floors,  the  principal  one  of 
which  was  the  hall.    The  upper  floors  com- 


38     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


municate  with  the  parapets  of  the  curtain  by 
narrow  passages,  thus  providing  a  way  of  es- 
cape if  the  entrance  were  stormed.  The  sev- 
eral towers,  as  usual  in  very  early  castles,  were 
made  independently  defensible,  and  one  of 
them  has  its  own  drawbridge,  of  a  different 
pattern  from  that  of  the  keep. 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  courtyard  is  the 
hall,  built  at  a  later  period  when  the  accom- 
modations of  the  donjon  proved  too  cramped. 
This  is  built  over  a  row  of  vaulted  rooms,  and 
is  sixty-five  feet  by  thirty-two.  At  the  same 
time  were  built  the  chapel  and  private  apart- 
ments along  the  south  wall,  only  the  windows 
of  which  now  remain. 

Bothwell  Castle  has  experienced  vicissitudes 
of  ownership  almost  unprecedented  in  number. 
In  the  time  of  Alexander  II,  it  belonged  to 
Walter  Olifard,  justiciary  of  Lothian,  who 
died  in  1242.  Later  it  passed  by  marriage  to 
the  family  of  De  Moravia  or  Moray.  It  was 
captured  by  Edward  I,  who  gave  it  to  Aymer 
de  Valance,  Earl  of  Pembroke.  It  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Scotch  by  storm  in  1337,  and  dis- 
mantled. Bruce  gave  it  to  Andrew  Moray, 
Lord  Bothwell,  husband  of  Christian,  the 
king's  sister.     His  granddaughter  married 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  39 


Archibald  the  Grim,  Earl  of  Douglas,  and 
brought  him  the  castle  as  a  marriage  portion. 
Archibald  rebuilt  the  castle,  and  it  remained 
in  the  family  of  Douglas  until  its  forfeiture 
in  1455.  James  II  gave  most  of  the  lordship 
of  Bothwell  to  Lord  Crichton,  son  of  Chan- 
cellor Crichton,  who  forfeited  it  in  1485,  for 
joining  Alexander,  Duke  of  Albany,  against 
James  III.  The  king  gave  the  estate  to  Lord 
Monipenny,  but  afterwards  took  it  back,  on 
the  ground  that  as  a  minor  he  had  not  been 
capable  of  alienating  it.  He  then  gave  it  to 
John  Ramsay,  who  held  it  till  1488,  when  it 
was  again  bestowed  by  James  IV  on  Adam 
Hepburn. 

Hepburn's  descendants  held  the  castle  until 
November,  1567,  when  James,  Earl  of  Both- 
well,  lost  it  because  of  his  connection  with  the 
murder  of  Darnley.  The  next  possessor  was 
Francis  Stuart,  a  grandson  of  James  V; 
when  he  fell  into  disfavour,  the  estate  was 
gifted  to  the  lairds  of  Buccleugh  and  Rox- 
burgh, from  whom  it  was  acquired  by  the 
Marquis  of  Hamilton.  Hepburn,  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  exchanged  Bothwell  Castle  and  a 
third  of  the  estate  with  the  Earl  of  Angus  for 
Hermitage  Castle  and  Liddesdale.     It  re- 


40     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


mained  in  the  family  of  Douglas  until  1859, 
when  it  descended  to  the  Countess  of  Home. 


Rothesay  Castle 


Plan  of  Rothesay  Castle 


Overlooking  the  sheltered  bay  and  pleasant 
town  of  Rothesay  in  the  isle  of  Bute  stands 
the  ancient  castle  of  the  same  name,  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  in  Scotland.  Its  origin 
goes  back  to  very  remote  times,  so  that  its 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  41 


early  history  is  obscure.  Originally  it  was 
probably  one  of  the  fortalices  built  in  1098 
by  Magnus  Barefoot,  King  of  Norway,  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  his  conquests  among 
the  western  islands.  The  Norsemen  did  not 
hold  it  permanently,  and  in  1228,  during  the 
reign  of  Alexander  III,  it  was  attacked  by 
Olave,  King  of  Man,  and  Husbac,  a  Norse 
chieftain,  with  eighty  ships  of  Norway.  After 
a  siege,  the  walls  were  mined  and  breached, 
and  the  tower  was  taken  by  assault,  at  the 
expense  of  three  hundred  and  ninety  lives. 
After  the  battle  of  Largs  in  1263  it  was  re- 
taken by  the  Scotch.  During  the  wars  of 
Bruce  and  Baliol  it  was  twice  taken  by  the 
English  and  twice  retaken  by  Bruce.  Rob- 
ert II  and  Robert  III  each  spent  much  time 
in  the  castle,  and  the  latter  died  of  grief  within 
its  walls  on  hearing  that  his  younger  son, 
afterwards  James  I,  had  been  captured  by 
the  English.  The  castle  was  seized  in  1685 
by  Argyle,  who  burned  it  and  converted  it  to 
an  utter  ruin. 

Rothesay  Castle  furnished  the  title  of  the 
first  dukedom  which  was  created  in  the  Scotch 
peerage,  an  honour  which  is  still  borne  by  the 
eldest  son  of  the  British  sovereign  as  his  prin- 
cipal Scotch  title.    The  dukedom  of  Rothesay 


42     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


was  created  in  council  at  Scone  in  1398,  and 
conferred  on  David,  Earl  of  Carrick,  Prince 
and  Steward  of  Scotland,  eldest  son  of  Robert 
III.  On  his  death  in  1402  it  passed  to  his 
brother  James.  In  1409,  by  act  of  parliament, 
it  was  declared  that  "the  lordship  of  Bute, 
with  the  castle  of  Rothesay,  the  lordship  of 
Cowal,  with  the  castle  of  Dunoon,  the  earldom 
of  Carrick,  the  lands  of  Dundonald,  with  the 
castle  of  the  same,  the  barony  of  Renfrew, 
with  the  lands  and  tenantries  of  the  same,  the 
lordship  of  Stewarton,  the  lordship  of  Kil- 
marnock, with  the  castle  of  the  same,  the  lord- 
ship of  Dairy,  the  lands  of  Nodisdale,  Kil- 
bryde,  ISTarristoun  and  Cairtoun,  also  the  lands 
of  Frarynzan,  Drumcall,  Trebrauch,  with  the 
fortalice  of  the  same,  '  principibus  primogeni- 
tis  Regum  Scotise  successorum  nostrorum,  per- 
petuis  futuris  temporibus,  uniantur,  incorpo- 
rentur,  et  annexantur.' "  Since  then,  the 
eldest  born  son  and  heir-apparent  of  the  sov- 
ereign has  borne  the  titles  of  Duke  of  Rothe- 
say, Prince  and  Steward  of  Scotland,  Earl  of 
Carrick,  Lord  of  the  Isles  and  Baron  Ren- 
frew. 

The  castle  stands  on  low  ground  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  wide  and  deep  ditch.    This  has 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  43 


been  cleared  out  in  recent  years,  and  a  new 
bridge  of  approach  built.  The  castle  is  an 
admirable  specimen  of  the  simple  wall  of  en- 
ceinte of  the  thirteenth  century,  but  is  extraor- 
dinary in  that  the  courtyard  is  circular  instead 
of  four-sided.  It  is  very  large,  being  about 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  diameter,  with 
walls  eight  to  ten  feet  thick.  The  wall  is 
strengthened  and  guarded  by  four  round  tow- 
ers, projecting  sufficiently  to  make  the  ground 
plan  almost  square.  Only  one  of  these  still 
stands,  the  battering  bases  of  the  others  being 
the  only  parts  left.  Each  has  a  doorway  from 
the  courtyard  on  the  ground  level. 

The  entrance  to  the  castle  was  originally 
through  a  square  gate -tower  on  the  north 
side,  but  later,  probably  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, a  quadrilateral  keep  was  built  in  front 
of  this.  The  entrance  is  now  by  a  long  pas- 
sage through  the  keep.  Above  is  the  hall, 
formerly  entered  from  the  guard  room  on  the 
lower  floor,  but  now  by  a  stair  from  the  court- 
yard. From  the  hall,  passages  in  the  wall 
lead  to  the  two  nearest  towers,  which  were 
probably  utilized  as  sleeping  apartments.  In 
the  courtyard  is  a  well,  as  well  as  some  walls 
of  the  chapel.   The  foundations  of  other  build- 


44     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ings  are  scattered  irregularly  about  the  en- 
closure. 

Crookston  Castle 

Three  miles  south  of  Paisley,  on  an  ancient 
mound  surrounded  by  ditches,  stand  the  ruins 
of  Crookston  Castle,  a  venerable  keep  of  un- 
known date.  The  barony  of  Crookston  be- 
longed in  the  twelfth  century  to  Robert  Croc, 
a  Norman  gentleman.  In  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury it  passed  into  the  great  family  of  Stu- 
art, and  thus  descended  to  Henry,  Lord  Darn- 
ley.  Tradition  states  that  it  was  here,  under 
a  stately  yew,  long  known  as  the  "  Crookston 
Tree,"  that  he  plighted  his  troth  to  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  and  that  under  its  branches 
she  experienced,  in  the  blissful  days  of  young 
love,  the  only  happy  moments  which  he  ever 
gave  her.  This  tree  died  in  1782,  and  its  rem- 
nants were  removed  in  1817  to  preserve  them 
from  the  devastating  hand  of  the  relic  col- 
lector. 

Another  traditional  report  is  that  from  the 
towers  of  Crookston  Mar3^  beheld  the  rout  of 
her  army  at  Langside.  Though  this  is  phys- 
ically impossible,  as  Langside  is  four  miles 
away  and  hidden  by  intervening  hills,  Scott 


Castles  Near  Glasgow  45 


adopted  it  not  only  in  "  The  Abbot,"  but  also 
in  his  "  History  of  Scotland." 

An  anonymous  poet  has  thus  written  of 
Crookston : 

"  Thou  proud  memorial  of  a  former  age, 
Time  -  ruined  Crookston  ;  not  in  all  our  land 
Eomantic  with  a  noble  heritage 
Of  feudal  halls,  in  ruin  sternly  grand, 
More  beautiful  doth  tower  or  castle  stand 
Than  thou  1  as  oft  the  lingering  traveller  tells. 
And  none  more  varied  sympathies  command ; 
Though  where  the  warrior  dwelt,  the  raven  dwells, 
With  tenderness  thy  tale  the  rudest  bosom  swells. 
Along  the  soul  that  pleasing  sadness  steals 
Which  trembles  from  a  wild  harp' s  dying  fall, 
When  Fancy's  recreative  eye  reveals 
To  him,  lone-musing  by  thy  mouldering  wall. 
What  warriors  thronged,  what  joy  rung  through  thy 
hall. 

When  Eoyal  Mary  —  yet  unstained  by  crime, 
And  with  love's  golden  sceptre  ruling  all  — 
Made  thee  her  bridal  home.    There  seems  to  shine 
Still  o'er  thee  splendour  shed  at  that  high  gorgeous 
time!  " 


CHAPTER  III 


THE  CASTLES  OF  ARGYLLSHIRE 

One  of  the  most  popular  approaches  from 
Glasgow  to  Oban,  the  principal  town  of  Ar- 
gyllshire, is  by  Loch  Fyne.  Leaving  Green- 
ock or  Gourock  by  steamer,  we  pass  Dunoon, 
with  its  scanty  remains  of  a  keep  of  the  time 
of  Bruce  —  the  first  castle  captured  by  him 
when  he  rose  against  Baliol.  The  town  is  a 
thriving  summer  resort,  much  frequented  by 
the  citizens  of  Glasgow.  Not  much  farther  on, 
the  steamer  leaves  the  Clyde  to  enter  the  Kyles 
of  Bute.  Just  within  the  entrance  is  Rothe- 
say Castle,  previously  described,  picturesquely 
situated  in  the  town  of  the  same  name,  also  a 
summer  resort.  On  the  other  side  of  the  strait, 
on  Toward  Point,  stands  Toward  Castle. 

This  consists  of  a  fifteenth  century  keep, 
about  forty  by  thirty  feet,  with  a  large  court- 
yard of  later  date.  The  keep  was  four  stories 
high,  two  of  which  were  vaulted.  The  en- 
trance door  is  a  dozen  feet  from  the  ground, 
on  the  level  of  the  first  floor.    The  courtyard 

46 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  47 


buildings  are  of  considerable  extent,  indicating 
a  structure  of  some  little  importance  in  its  day. 
The  gateway  is  a  beautifully  carved  arch. 

Toward  belonged  to  the  family  of  Lamont. 
It  has  not  been  inhabited  since  1646,  when 
the  Campbells  attempted  to  exterminate  the 
whole  clan  of  the  Lamonts.  Two  hundred  of 
them  defended  the  castle,  but  were  starved  into 
surrendering,  when  the  most  horrible  cruelties 
were  perpetrated  on  them,  from  their  leader, 
Sir  James  Lamont,  down.  No  less  than  thirty- 
six  of  them  were  hanged  in  the  charred  and 
bloody  ruins  of  their  devastated  house,  which 
has  never  since  been  occupied. 

Leaving  Rothesay,  the  steamer  traverses  the 
Kyles  of  Bute,  a  narrow  strait  between  the 
island  of  Bute  and  the  mainland,  famed  for  its 
beautiful  scenery. 

Skipness  Castle 

As  we  pass  out  of  the  strait  to  round  the 
point  into  Loch  Fyne,  there  may  be  seen  on 
a  cape  directly  ahead  of  us  the  gray  walls  of 
Skipness  Castle,  one  of  the  finest  and  best 
preserved  castles  of  the  first  period  to  be 
found  in  Scotland.  It  consists  of  an  oblong 
enceinte  with  walls  six  feet  thick  or  more,  and 
thirty-five  feet  high.   This  is  one  hundred  and 


48     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


twenty-five  feet  long  and  one  hundred  wide. 
It  was  originally  provided  with  two  strong 
towers,  to  which  has  been  added  a  keep  of 
later  date,  still  roofed  and  in  good  preserva- 
tion. The  gateway  was  defended  by  a  port- 
cullis and  projecting  overhead  defences,  which 
have  all  been  removed.  The  castle  was  in- 
tended to  be  of  great  strength,  and  the  outer 
walls  have  very  few  and  very  small  openings. 
This  castle,  like  Dunstaffnage,  has  a  thirteenth 
century  chapel  some  little  distance  outside. 
Skipness  originally  belonged  to  the  Macdou- 
galls,  but,  like  most  of  Argyle,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  Campbells,  who  possessed  it 
until  about  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


Tarbert  Castle 

Just  within  the  entrance  to  Loch  Fyne,  the 
steamer  stops  at  the  little  town  of  Tarbert, 
situated  on  a  narrow  isthmus  which  joins  the 
district  of  Kintyre  to  the  mainland.  About 
sixty  feet  above  the  sea,  overlooking  the  town, 
stands  Tarbert  Castle,  a  fortress  of  very  early 
origin.  It  was  one  of  the  royal  fortresses 
which  Edward  I  caused  to  be  handed  over  to 
Baliol.  Bruce,  in  1325,  had  the  castle  repaired 
and  considerably  extended,  making  it  one  of 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  49 


his  chief  strategic  positions  for  the  overawing 
of  the  western  Highlands,  an  office  which  its 
commanding  position  enabled  it  to  fulfil  most 
satisfactorily. 

The  original  castle  was  an  enceinte  nearly 
one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  square,  consisting 
of  double  walls  about  twenty  feet  apart.  These 
exist  now  merely  as  mounds  of  grass,  with  a 
few  fragments  of  masonry  peeping  through. 
To  this  structure  Bruce  added  an  outer  court- 
yard three  hundred  feet  long  and  two  hundred 
and  forty  broad,  with  strong  walls  defended  by 
circular  towers,  the  whole  enclosing  a  sloping 
hillside  and  affording  excellent  shelter  for  a 
numerous  peasantry  and  their  flocks  and  herds. 
He  also  built  a  hall  and  a  dwelling  in  the  orig- 
inal castle,  as  appears  by  exchequer  records 
still  existing.  The  small  keep,  the  only  con- 
spicuous part  now  existent,  was  built  about  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  not  by 
Bruce,  as  the  inhabitants  fondly  assert.  This 
was  presumably  erected  by  James  IV  in  1494, 
when  he  was  engaged  in  suppressing  the  tur- 
bulent western  clans,  as  the  treasury  accounts 
show  that  he  expended  considerable  money  in 
the  rebuilding  of  the  castle. 

As  we  journey  on  to  Inveraray  the  scenery 
of  Loch  Fyne  is  extremely  picturesque,  a  com- 


50     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


bination  of  near  and  distant  mountains  most 
beautiful  on  a  clear  day.  At  Inveraray,  the 
country  town  of  Argyle,  we  leave  the  steamer, 
and  after  an  excellent  lunch  take  coaches  for 
the  trip  to  Dalmally.  We  pass  Inveraray  Cas- 
tle, the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  one  of 
the  greatest  landed  proprietors  in  Scotland. 
His  castle  was  built  in  1745,  burned  in  1877, 
and  rebuilt  on  somewhat  altered  plans.  Its 
lack  of  beauty  was  well  expressed  by  the  trav- 
eller who  described  it  as  "  the  ugliest  castle  in 
Europe,"  a  description  from  which  I  am  not 
inclined  to  dissent. 

The  coach  road  climbs  up  the  valley  of  Glen 
Aray,  through  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
forests  in  the  British  isles.  Century-old 
beeches  throw  out  their  gnarled  and  moss- 
grown  branches  over  beautiful  beds  of 
bracken.  The  little  stream  brawls  and  leaps 
down  its  stony  bed.  Through  the  glades  of 
the  forest  timid  deer  peep  at  the  coach  and  flee 
in  terror.  The  rabbits  scamper  across  the 
road;  the  grouse  and  the  pheasant  whir  away 
before  the  approaching  horses.  Little  by 
little  the  trees  grow  smaller  and  thin  out, 
until  finally  we  leave  the  forest  for  the  moor, 
blazing  with  yellow  whins  in  June  or  glorious 
with  the  purple  carpet  of  the  heather  in 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  51 


August.  Then  up  and  up  and  up  we  go,  over 
the  crest  of  the  moor,  until  there  bursts  on  our 
vision  the  noble  spectacle  of  lovely  Loch  Awe, 
dotted  with  islets  and  overhung  by  the  mighty 
mass  of  Ben  Cruachan,  a  lake  view  equal  to 
any  in  Scotland. 

Kilchurn  Castle 

Backed  by  the  noble  height  of  Ben 
Cruachan,  the  castle  of  Kilchurn,  on  its  island 
in  the  midst  of  Loch  Awe,  cannot  be  excelled 
for  picturesqueness  of  situation.  It  has  long 
been  a  favourite  with  artists  and  poets,  because 
of  its  magnificent  situation  and  its  picturesque- 
ness of  outline,  which,  however,  is  more  im- 
pressive from  a  distance  than  on  close  inspec- 
tion. From  the  heights  on  either  side  of  the 
loch,  its  beauty  is  indeed  deserving  of  the 
poetic  description : 

"  It  is  paramount,  and  rules 
Over  the  pomp  and  beauty  of  a  scene 
Where  mountains,  torrents,  lakes  and  woods  unite 
To  pay  it  homage." 

The  castle  stands  on  a  rocky  promontory 
which  is  sometimes  an  island,  sometimes  con- 
nected with  the  mainland  by  a  marshy  penin- 
sula, but  was  evidently  entirely  cut  off  when 


52     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  castle  was  built.  The  keep  is  five  stories 
high,  and  of  fair  size.  It  was  erected  by  the 
wife  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell  of  Glenorchy,  the 
Black  Knight  of  Rhodes,  founder  of  the  noble 
family  of  Breadalbane.  Sir  Colin  was  a 
Knight  Templar,  and  during  his  seven  years 
of  absence  on  a  crusade,  the  rents  of  his  lands 
were  appropriated  to  the  construction  of  this 
fortress. 

In  1693  the  castle  was  greatly  enlarged  by 
the  addition  of  an  extensive  quadrangle  by 
John,  first  Earl  of  Breadalbane.  This  is  de- 
fended by  round  towers  at  each  corner,  and, 
while  by  no  means  strong  enough  to  stand 
a  siege,  would  be  sufficiently  secure  against 
the  attacks  of  Highland  raiders.  The  castle 
was  defended  for  the  king  in  1745,  and  was 
habitable  long  after,  until  a  factor,  merely  to 
obtain  an  easy  supply  of  wood,  unroofed  it. 
Since  then  it  has  rapidly  decayed. 

Ardchonnel  Castle 

Another  castle  of  Loch  Awe  is  Ardchonnel, 
the  original  home  of  the  family  of  Argyle,  in 
the  island  of  Innischonnel,  near  the  east  side 
of  the  lake.  This  was  originally  a  simple  en- 
closure of  the  thirteenth  century,  with  walls 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  53 


seven  or  eight  feet  thick,  but  has  been  ex- 
tended and  rebuilt  in  later  times.  It  is  now 
an  ivy-covered  ruin,  whose  internal  arrange- 
ments are  scarcely  distinguishable.  Here  orig- 
inated the  famous  slogan  of  the  Campbells, 
"  It's  a  far  cry  to  Loch  Awe!  "  With  it  the 
clan  derided  their  foes,  indicating  the  impossi- 
bility of  reaching  their  well-defended  and  dis- 
tant home. 

In  the  fifteenth  century  this  castle  was  the 
prison  of  the  infant  heir  of  the  Lord  of  the 
Isles.  The  child  was  named  Donald  Dubh, 
and  was  the  son  of  Angus,  who  had  rebelled 
against  his  father  John,  Lord  of  the  Isles. 
Father  and  son  fought  at  "  Bloody  Bay,"  and 
the  child  was  carried  off  by  Athole  and  con- 
fined by  the  Earl  of  Argyle  in  Ardchonnel. 
He  did  not  escape  until  he  had  grown  to  man- 
hood, when  he  raised  an  army  and  invaded 
Badenoch  in  1503.  He  was  defeated  and  car- 
ried off  a  prisoner  to  Edinburgh  Castle,  where 
he  remained  for  nearly  forty  years.  Escap- 
ing in  1545,  he  became  Lord  of  the  Isles,  con- 
cluded a  treaty  with  Henry  VIII  and  Len- 
nox, and  supplied  the  latter  with  troops. 
Again  misfortune  was  his  lot,  and  he  was 
forced  to  flee  to  Ireland,  where  he  soon  died. 

From  Dalmally  we  take  train  to  Oban,  pass- 


54     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ing  through  the  dark  Pass  of  Brander,  the 
scene  of  celebrated  conflicts  of  both  Wallace 
and  Bruce,  both  of  the  most  sanguinary  de- 
scription. The  scenery  is  most  majestic;  the 
furious  river  leaps  and  roars  in  its  narrow 
channel  under  the  flanks  of  the  great  moun- 
tain which  has  striven  in  vain  to  hold  it  back. 

Oban  has  been  called  the  Newport  of  Scot- 
land, and  is  thronged  with  people  from  all 
parts  of  the  world  in  the  summer.  It  pos- 
sesses a  most  beautiful  situation  on  the  Sound 
of  Kerrera,  and  is  a  most  attractive  place  for 
a  stay  of  some  length,  being  the  natural  start- 
ing point  for  all  excursions  in  the  western 
Highlands. 

Dunolly  Castle 

Only  a  mile  from  Oban,  and  easily  reached 
by  a  good  carriage  road,  lies  Dunolly  Castle, 
in  such  a  situation  as  to  form  one  of  the 
town's  great  scenic  attractions.  "  Nothing 
can  be  more  wildly  beautiful,"  says  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott,  "  than  the  situation  of  Dunolly. 
The  ruins  are  situated  upon  a  bold  and  pre- 
cipitous promontory,  overhanging  Loch  Etive, 
and  distant  about  a  mile  from  the  village  and 
port  of  Oban.  The  principal  part  which  re- 
mains is  the  donjon,  or  keep;  but  fragments 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  55 


of  other  buildings,  overgrown  with  ivy,  attest 
that  it  had  once  been  a  place  of  importance, 
as  large  apparently  as  Artornish  or  Dunstaff- 
nage.  These  fragments  enclose  a  courtyard, 
of  which  the  keep  probably  formed  one  side; 
the  entrance  being  by  a  steep  ascent  from  the 
neck  of  the  isthmus,  formerly  cut  across  by  a 
moat,  and  defended  doubtless  by  outworks 
and  a  drawbridge.  Beneath  the  castle  stands 
the  present  mansion  of  the  family,  having  on 
the  one  hand  Loch  Etive,  with  its  islands  and 
mountains;  on  the  other  two  romantic  emi- 
nences tufted  with  copsewood.  There  are 
other  accompaniments  suited  to  the  scene;  in 
particular,  a  huge  upright  pillar,  or  detached 
fragment  of  that  sort  of  rock  called  plum- 
pudding  stone,  upon  the  shore,  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  from  the  castle.  It  is  called 
Clach-na-cau,  or  the  Dog's  Pillar,  because 
Fingal  is  said  to  have  used  it  as  a  stake  to 
which  he  bound  his  celebrated  dog  Bran. 
Others  say,  that  when  the  Lord  of  the  Isles 
came  on  a  visit  to  the  Lord  of  Lorn,  the  dogs 
brought  for  his  sport  were  kept  beside  this 
pillar.  Upon  the  whole,  a  more  delightful  and 
romantic  spot  can  scarce  be  conceived;  and  it 
receives  a  moral  interest  from  the  considera- 
tions attached  to  the  residence  of  a  family  once 


56     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


powerful  enough  to  confront  and  defeat 
Bruce,  and  now  sunk  into  the  shade  of  private 
life." 

As  mentioned  in  the  account  of  Dunstaff- 
nage,  the  Macdougalls  of  that  ilk  are  de- 
scended from  Alexander  of  Argyle,  adversary 
of  the  Bruce.  "  The  islands,"  says  Pennant, 
"  remained  governed  by  powerful  chieftains, 
the  descendants  of  Somerled,  Thane  of  Here- 
gaidel,  or  Argyle,  who,  marrying  the  daugh- 
ter of  Olave,  King  of  Man,  left  a  divided  do- 
minion to  his  sons  Dugal  and  Reginald. 
From  the  first  were  descended  the  Macdou- 
galls of  Lorn;  from  the  last  the  powerful  clan 
of  the  Macdonalds.  The  lordship  of  Argyle, 
with  Mull,  and  the  islands  north  of  it,  fell  to 
the  share  of  the  first;  Islay,  Kintyre,  and  the 
southern  isles,  were  the  portion  of  the  last." 
Nisbet  says:  "  There  was  a  great  and  old 
family  of  this  name  in  Argyleshire,  called 
M'Oul,  M'Dowall,  or  M'Dugall,  Lords  of 
Lorn,  whose  title  and  lands  went,  by  an  heir- 
ess, to  Stuart,  Lord  of  Lorn,  and  are  now 
in  the  family  of  Argyle;  Colin  Campbell,  the 
first  Earl  of  Argyle,  having  married  Isabel, 
heiress  of  Stuart  of  Lorn." 

The  name  Dunolly  comes  from  Olave,  and 
signifies  "  the  fortified  hill  of  Olave."  This 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  57 


was  a  very  common  Norwegian  name,  and  was 
borne  not  only  by  the  King  of  Man  mentioned 
above,  but  by  at  least  two  Norse  kings  of 
Dublin.  From  which  of  these  it  received  its 
name  remains  open  to  conjecture,  but  it  was 
a  considerable  place  as  early  as  the  seventh 
century,  and  is  mentioned  several  times  in  the 
Annals  of  Ulster. 

The  present  castle  was  erected  not  earlier 
than  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  consists  of  a  keep  with  walls  of  enceinte. 
The  keep  is  set  diagonally  on  the  corner  of  the 
north  and  east  walls,  the  only  ones  which  re- 
main. The  others,  abutting  on  a  precipitous 
rock,  were  probably  weak,  serving  only  as  a 
minor  defence.  The  keep  is  about  forty-five 
feet  high  and  contained  one  vaulted  story  and 
several  with  timber  floors.  The  stairs  are 
straight  and  in  the  thickness  of  the  walls.  In 
spite  of  Scott's  statement,  the  castle  was  never 
more  than  half  as  large  as  Dunstaffnage  in 
either  dimension,  and  possessed  very  inade- 
quate living  accommodations. 

Gylen  Castle 

Facing  Oban  lies  the  island  of  Kerrera,  and 
on  its  southern  end,  about  four  miles  from 


58     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Oban,  stands  the  little  castle  of  Gylen,  an 
L-keep  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Though  un- 
roofed it  is  in  a  good  state  of  preservation, 
and  is  architecturally  very  interesting.  The 
keep  is  four  stories  high,  and  occupies  a  narrow- 
projecting  neck  of  rock,  thus  having  a  very 
defensible  situation.  The  destruction  of  the 
castle  dates  from  1647,  when  it  was  besieged 
by  General  Leslie.  During  this  siege  the 
"  Brooch  of  Lorn  "  was  stolen,  not  to  be  re- 
stored to  its  hereditary  owners  until  during 
the  last  century. 

Dunstaffnage  Castle 

As  we  leave  the  harbour  of  Oban  on  one  of 
the  numerous  steamers  which  ply  the  beauti- 
ful waters  of  Loch  Etive,  our  attention  is  soon 
attracted  by  the  picturesque  ruins  of  Dun- 
staffnage Castle,  four  miles  north  of  the  town. 
Its  site  is  a  rocky  peninsula  jutting  into  the 
sea.  The  walls  of  the  castle  rise  sheer  from 
the  edge  of  the  crags,  their  bases  some  thirty 
feet  above  the  water,  so  that  there  is  no  possi- 
bility of  an  enemy  getting  a  foothold  between 
them  and  the  sea. 

The  ground  plan  of  the  castle  is  an  irregu- 
lar quadrangle,  and  the  structure  is  an  inter- 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  59 


esting  example  of  the  castles  of  the  first 
period,  built  as  simple  walls  of  enceinte.  In 
this  case  the  north  front  is  guarded  at  either 
end  by  a  round  tower.  The  curtain  walls  are 
extremely  massive,  being  on  the  average  ten 
feet  thick  and  sixty  feet  high  on  the  outside. 
The  castle  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  first 
period,  being  nearly  one  hundred  and  forty 
feet  long  and  over  one  hundred  feet  wide. 
The  towers  at  the  corners  are  round;  besides 
these,  there  is  a  square  tower  to  guard  the  en- 
trance, which  is  at  the  southeastern  corner. 
This  was  formerly  reached  by  a  drawbridge 
and  an  arched  doorway,  which  in  later  times 
has  been  built  up,  so  that  only  a  narrow  pas- 
sage remains.  The  original  accommodations 
of  this  castle  were  very  limited,  as  the  keep,  in 
the  northwestern  tower,  contains  only  three  low 
stories.  The  other  tower  probably  contained 
rooms  also,  but  is  so  utterly  ruinous  inside  that 
this  cannot  now  be  determined  with  certainty. 
Beside  the  tower  accommodations,  there  were 
a  number  of  buildings  within  the  courtyard, 
one  of  which  was  a  kitchen,  while  the  others 
served  for  other  domestic  uses.  There  are 
also  small  chambers  in  the  south  and  west 
walls.  The  present  buildings  in  the  courtyard 
are  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centu- 


60     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ries.  The  battlements  have  been  altered  for 
guns,  and  lying  on  them  are  three  beautiful 
Spanish  cannon,  relics  of  the  Great  Armada. 
About  five  hundred  feet  southwest  of  the  castle 
stands  the  chapel,  a  beautiful  Gothic  building 
of  Early  Pointed  style.  This  may  almost  cer- 
tainly be  assigned  to  within  a  few  years  of 
1250,  and  as  the  castle  was  probably  built  by 
the  same  builders,  its  date  is  approximately  the 
same. 

Both  tradition  and  legend  carry  the  founda- 
tion of  Dunstaffnage  back  to  a  much  earlier 
date  than  that  just  assigned  for  its  origin,  and 
from  the  strong  nature  of  the  site  they  are 
probably  correct.  But  little  fortification 
would  be  required  to  render  it  secure  against 
the  early  forms  of  attack.  The  castle  was 
for  several  centuries  after  300  a.  d.  the  capital 
of  the  Pictish  princes,  and  here  for  centuries 
was  preserved  "  the  stone  of  power,"  the  palla- 
dium of  Scotland.  This  is  best  known  as  the 
"  stone  of  Scone,"  and  is  now  preserved  in  the 
coronation  chair  at  Westminster  Abbey.  It  is 
one  of  the  most  famous  pieces  of  mineral  mat- 
ter in  the  world,  and  the  legend  asserts  that  this 
is  the  identical  rock  on  which  Jacob  pillowed 
his  head  at  Bethel.  From  the  Holy  Land  it 
was  transported  to  Spain,  and  thence  made 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  61 


its  way  into  Ireland.  Fergus,  the  son  of  Ere, 
brought  it  with  him  to  Icolmkill,  better  known 
to  us  as  lona,  where  it  pillowed  the  head  of  the 
dying  St.  Columba.  Thence  its  holiness 
caused  it  to  be  carried  to  Dunstaffnage  and 
used  as  a  seat  for  the  Scottish  princes  to  be 
crowned  upon.  Long  it  rested  in  Dunstaff- 
nage, until  Kenneth  Macalpine  took  it  to 
Scone.  Edward  I  seized  it  here,  and  carried 
it  off  to  London,  and  there  it  is  likely  to  rest 
for  many  centuries  longer. 

The  stone  gave  rise  to  the  following  prov- 
erb: — 

"  Ni  fallat  fatum,  Scoti  quocunque  locatum 
Invenient  lapidein,  regnare  tenentur  ibidem." 

This  has  been  translated  by  Scott:  — 

"  Unless  the  fates  be  faithless  grown, 
And  prophet's  voice  be  vain, 
Where'er  is  found  this  sacred  stone, 
The  Scottish  race  shall  reign." 

This  prophecy  was  easily  declared  verified 
when  James  VI  of  Scotland  ascended  the 
English  throne  as  James  1. 

Dunstaffnage  Castle  was  also  for  centuries 
the  safe  place  where  were  kept  the  ancient 


62     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


regalia  of  Scotland,  and  some  of  them  were 
here  as  late  as  the  eighteenth  centm-y,  when 
they  were  purloined  by  servants. 

When  Kenneth  JNIacalpine  removed  the  seat 
of  government  from  Dunstaffnage  to  Perth- 
shire, in  843,  the  castle  dropped  out  of  histor- 
ical importance.  The  Norwegians  had  begun 
to  make  inroads  into  this  region,  and  it  became 
one  of  their  strongholds.  Xot  until  the  time 
of  Robert  Bruce  is  it  again  mentioned  in  Scot- 
tish history.  It  w^as  then  possessed  by  Alexan- 
der of  Argyle,  father  of  John  ]Macdougall, 
Lord  of  Lorn,  nephew  of  the  Red  Com}Ti. 
The  Macdougalls  were  adherents  of  Baliol, 
and  made  themselves  especially  obnoxious  to 
Bruce  by  being  factors  in  his  defeat  at  the 
battle  of  Dairy,  near  Tyndrum,  when  the 
famous  "  Brooch  of  Lorn  "  was  wTenched  from 
his  person.  In  1308  Bruce  obtained  his  re- 
venge by  defeating  the  army  of  John  of  Lorn, 
and  besieging  his  father  in  Dunstaffnage  Cas- 
tle. Unable  to  hold  out,  he  surrendered  the 
castle  to  the  king;  but,  his  pride  refusing  to 
allow  him  to  do  homage  for  it,  he  took  safe- 
conduct  from  the  monarch  for  himself  and  his 
followers,  and  retired  to  England,  where  he 
died.  The  son  continued  his  rebellion,  and  a 
large  part  of  the  family  lands  was  alienated. 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  63 


The  family  still  owns  the  lands  of  Dunolly, 
and  their  descent  from  this  Alexander  seems 
indisputable. 

Dunstaffnage  passed  from  the  Macdougalls 
to  the  Argyles,  who  claimed  it  as  their  share 
of  the  spoil.  Scott  says:  "When  the  wars 
between  the  Bruce  and  Baliol  factions  again 
broke  out  in  the  reign  of  David  II,  the  Lords 
of  Lorn  were  again  found  on  the  losing  side, 
owing  to  their  hereditary  enmity  to  the  house 
of  Bruce.  Accordingly,  upon  the  issue  of  that 
contest,  they  were  deprived  by  David  II  and 
his  successor  of  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
their  extensive  territories,  which  were  con- 
ferred upon  Stuart,  called  the  Knight  of 
Lorn.  The  house  of  Macdougall  continued 
to  survive  the  loss  of  power,  and  affords  a  very 
rare,  if  not  an  unique,  instance  of  a  family  of 
such  unlimited  power,  and  so  distinguished 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  surviving  the  decay 
of  their  grandeur,  and  flourishing  in  a  private 
station." 

A  charter  of  Robert  I  is  still  in  ex- 
istence, which  grants  to  Arthur  Campbell, 
fourth  son  of  the  Sir  Colin  Campbell  of 
Lochow,  "  the  constabulary  of  Dunstaffnage, 
and  the  maines  thereof,  whilk  Alexander 
Argyle  had  in  his  hands."    The  fortress  is 


64     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


still  in  the  hands  of  this  family,  which  seems 
to  dispose  of  Pennant's  assertion  that  in  1455 
it  was  a  residence  of  the  Lords  of  the  Isles. 
The  other  historians  agree  that  James,  Earl 
of  Douglas,  after  his  defeats  in  Angus,  here 
met  Donald,  Earl  of  Ross,  and  Lord  of  the 
Isles,  and  induced  him  to  make  war  on 
James  11. 

In  1490  James  IV  twice  visited  Dun- 
staffnage  in  order  to  win  to  his  allegiance 
the  wild  western  chiefs,  and  after  this  the 
castle  seems  to  have  been  held  in  the  interest 
of  the  reigning  monarchs.  Much  of  it  was 
destroyed  by  fire  in  1695,  but  it  was  restored 
sufficiently  to  be  garrisoned  both  in  1715  and 
1745.  In  1746  it  formed  for  a  while  a  place 
of  refuge  for  Flora  Macdonald.  It  was 
partly  occupied  until  1810,  but  now  serves 
only  as  a  refuge  for  a  few  fishermen. 

Duart  Castle 

As  we  enter  the  Sound  of  Mull,  we  see  on 
our  right  the  massive  ruin  of  Duart  Castle, 
one  of  the  most  imposing  and  powerful  cas- 
tellated structures  in  the  western  islands.  It 
stands  on  a  high  rock,  and  presents  a  most 
martial  appearance,  due  principally  to  the 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  65 


great  keep,  with  walls  fifteen  feet  thick  and 
sixty  in  height.  The  oldest  part  of  the  build- 
ing is  the  great  wall  of  enceinte  enclosing  a 
large  courtyard.  This  is  about  thirty  feet 
high,  and  from  six  to  ten  feet  thick.  The  keep 
is  of  the  second  period.  The  architectural 
features  are  similar  to  other  more  accessible 
castles. 

The  castle  was  probably  built  by  Lauclan 
McLean,  called  Lubanach,  who  married,  in 
1366,  Margaret,  daughter  of  the  first  Lord  of 
the  Isles,  and  founded  the  House  of  Duart. 
He  rapidly  gained  power,  and  became  owner 
of  a  number  of  other  castles.  When  the 
Highlanders  were  forced  to  resign  themselves 
to  peace  by  the  naval  forces  of  James  VI, 
Hector  McLean  submitted  and  was  allowed  to 
keep  his  castle.  He  was  a  person  of  great 
importance,  as  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he 
was  allowed  by  the  Privy  Council  to  entertain 
in  his  house  eight  gentlemen  retainers,  and  to 
consume  four  tuns  of  wine  in  a  year,  both 
being  the  largest  number  permitted  to  any 
chieftain.  He  was  also  allowed  to  maintain 
a  galley  of  eighteen  oars,  and  required  to  pre- 
sent himself  annually  to  the  Privy  Council 
with  four  kinsmen,  as  security  for  his  good 


66     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


behaviour.  His  son  was  created  a  Nova 
Scotia  baronet  in  1631. 

Ardt Ornish  Castle 

Opposite  Duart,  on  the  Morven  side  of  the 
Sound  of  Mull,  stand  the  ruins  of  Ardtornish 
Castle.  This  was  the  stronghold  of  the  first 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  who  died  there  in  1380,  and 
was  interred  with  elaborate  rites  at  lona. 
Although  Scott  depicts  it  as  a  castle  of  great 
extent,  there  are  no  indications  at  present  to 
show  that  it  was  ever  more  than  a  simple  keep. 
The  walls  are  about  ten  feet  thick,  and  are 
now  about  fifteen  feet  high.  No  signs  of  any 
coiu-tyard  can  be  found.  This  seems  a  very 
unsatisfactory  place  to  hold  any  such  festivi- 
ties as  Scott  describes,  when  — 

"  the  noble  and  the  bold 
Of  Island  chivalry/' 

"  met  from  mainland  and  from  isle, 
Ross,  Arran,  Islay  and  Argyle," 

to  celebrate  the  nuptials  of  the  hapless  Maid 
of  Lorn.  Still,  it  was  at  this  castle  that  John 
de  Yle,  Earl  of  Ross  and  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
in  1461  called  a  council  of  his  chiefs,  and,  like 
an  independent  sovereign,  appointed  two  of 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  67 


his  kinsmen  ambassadors  to  sign  with  Ed- 
ward IV  a  treaty  of  offensive  alliance  against 
Scotland. 

Kinlochaline  Castle 

Just  beyond  Ardtornish  Castle,  there  opens 
into  the  sound  of  Mull  the  beautiful  bay  known 
as  Loch  Aline.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half 
miles  long,  and  at  its  head,  in  surroundings 
of  the  utmost  beauty,  stands  the  Castle  of 
Kinlochaline.  It  occupies  the  high  summit  of 
a  pointed  rock,  and  adds  greatly  to  the  beauty 
of  the  wild  and  rugged  mountain  scenery. 
The  castle  is  a  simple  keep  of  great  strength, 
built  probably  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and 
somewhat  altered  in  the  next.  The  walls  are 
about  ten  feet  thick,  and  carry  at  the  top  a 
beautiful  corbel  course  to  support  the  para- 
pets. All  that  tradition  or  history  have  to 
say  of  the  fortalice  is  that  it  was  built  by  a 
Maclnnes,  and  that  Colkitto  captured  it  in  the 
seventeenth  century. 

Aros  Castle 

Aros  Castle,  the  fragmentary  ruin  of  a  once 
powerful  stronghold  of  the  Lords  of  the 
Isles,  stands  on  a  high  basaltic  promontory  on 


68     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  south  shore  of  the  Sound  of  Mull.  Placed 
at  a  bend  of  the  channel,  its  position  would 
enable  its  sentries  to  observe  the  approach  of 
an  enemy  from  either  direction.  The  walls 
at  present  standing  are  but  portions  of  a  keep, 
but  the  place  was  anciently  of  considerable 
importance.  Its  chief  historic  interest  lies  in 
the  fact  that  it  was  here  that,  in  1608,  Lord 
Ochiltree  called  together  the  chieftains  of  the 
isles.  When  they  arrived,  he  entertained 
them  at  dinner  on  his  vessel,  and  after  the 
feast  informed  them  that  they  were  prisoners 
by  order  of  the  King,  James  VI.  The  un- 
fortunate gentlemen  were  then  carried  off  as 
prisoners  to  the  various  royal  castles  in  the 
Lowlands,  thus  ensuring  a  term  of  peace  to 
the  west  of  Scotland. 


Mingarry  Castle 

At  the  extreme  western  end  of  the  Sound 
of  Mull,  near  to  the  stormy  point  of  Ardna- 
murchan,  the  division  between  the  Norderies 
and  the  Suderies,  stands  Mingarry  Castle, 
commanding  this  end  of  the  sound  as  com- 
pletely as  Duart  does  the  other.  Like  Duart, 
it  is  a  castle  of  enceinte  of  the  earliest  period, 
dating  back  certainly  to  the  thirteenth  century. 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  69 


It  occupies  a  lofty  and  isolated  rock  which 
commands  the  entrances  of  the  Sound  of  Mull 
and  Loch  Sunart,  and  enjoys  a  view  of  almost 
the  entire  length  of  the  sound.  The  castle  is 
an  irregular  hexagon,  about  two  hundred  feet 
in  circumference,  and  its  walls,  in  spite  of  their 
great  age,  are  tolerably  entire,  showing  some 
of  the  original  crenellations.  Like  all  the 
early  castles,  it  is  almost  without  external 
openings,  being  furnished  only  with  a  few 
narrow  pointed  loopholes.  The  gateway  is  on 
the  south,  accessible  to  ships,  the  principal 
means  of  communication  in  this  region.  It  is 
defended  by  an  iron  gate,  still  in  place.  The 
present  buildings  which  stand  within  the  en- 
closure are  of  no  great  antiquity. 

The  castle  was  anciently  the  seat  of  the 
Maclans,  a  Macdonald  clan,  descended  from 
Ian  or  John,  a  grandson  of  Angus  Og,  Lord 
of  the  Isles.  In  1493  and  1495  it  was  occu- 
pied by  James  IV  when  he  was  engaged  in 
asserting  his  authority  in  the  west.  In  1644 
it  was  besieged  and  taken  by  Allaster  Mac- 
donald of  Colkitto,  the  famous  partisan  of 
the  Marquis  of  Montrose.  Colkitto  used  it  as 
a  prison  for  his  captured  Covenanters.  John 
of  Moidart,  captain  of  Clanranald,  was  sent 
by  the  Marquis  of  Argyle  to  recapture  it ;  but 


70     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


he  sent  it  relief  instead,  and  wasted  Argyle's 
district  of  Stuart. 

If,  when  leaving  Oban,  instead  of  turning 
into  the  Sound  of  Mull,  we  keep  on  to  the 
northward,  we  find  both  islands  and  mainland 
beset  with  castles  and  towers.  The  little 
island  of  Lismore  contains  three,  Auchindown, 
Tirafour  and  Rachel.  Opposite  them  is  Bar- 
caldine  on  the  mainland,  and  Stalker  and 
Shuna,  each  on  its  own  island.  Most  of  them 
are  simple  keeps  of  early  date,  similar  to  a 
thousand  others  strewn  over  these  isles  and 
capes.  Barcaldine  is  a  little  more  pretentious, 
having  been  built  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century  by  Sir  Duncan  Campbell  of  Glen- 
orchy.  Achanduin  or  Auchindown  is  a  thir- 
teenth century  enceinte,  about  seventy  feet 
square,  situated  on  a  steep  conical  hill.  This 
castle  was  the  residence  of  the  Bishop  of 
Argyle,  whose  see  was  transferred  to  this 
island  in  1236,  soon  after  which  the  castle  was 
probably  erected. 

Castle  Stalcaire  or  Stalker  is  a  well-pre- 
served keep,  built  by  Duncan  Stuart  of 
Appin  in  the  reign  of  James  IV,  who  is  said 
to  have  used  the  castle  as  a  hunting  lodge. 
It  stands  on  a  small  island  in  full  sight  of 


The  Castles  of  Argyllshire  71 


the  steamers  which  ply  north  from  Oban,  and 
is  a  well-known  scenic  object.  The  keep  is  not 
peculiar  in  its  architecture  in  any  degree,  and 
would  poorly  repay  the  trouble  of  a  visit. 


CHAPTER  IV 


THE  CASTLES  OF  NORTHWESTERN  SCOTLAND 

Stretching  northeast  from  Oban  in  almost 
a  straight  line,  the  great  depression  now  known 
as  the  Caledonian  Canal  cuts  Scotland  into 
two  islands.  While  the  scenery  on  both  sides 
is  wild  and  mountainous,  the  western  region  is 
much  less  accessible  and  settled.  Towns  of 
any  size  are  few,  agriculture  is  little  practised, 
and  most  of  the  great  region  is  given  over  to 
sheep  pastures  and  deer  forests.  Conse- 
quently, castles  are  not  numerous  in  this  re- 
gion. The  Caledonian  Canal  is  guarded  by 
two  or  three,  and  a  few  more  may  be  found 
on  the  coasts  of  Sutherland  and  Caithness,  and 
in  the  outlying  isles.  Most  of  these  latter  are 
relics  of  Norwegian  domination  in  the  islands. 
The  mainland  of  Caithness  and  the  islands  of 
the  Shetland  and  Orkney  groups  are  noted 
for  the  rude  erections  discussed  in  the  first 
chapter  under  the  name  of  brochs,  rude  circu- 
lar towers  built  by  the  Celts  and  serving  the 
same  purposes  as  the  later  castles  of  other 

72 


4 

Northwestern  Scotland  73 


parts  of  Scotland.  The  best  known  and  best 
preserved  of  these  is  Mousa,  on  the  island  of 
Mainland  in  Shetland,  which  will  be  described 
in  its  proper  place. 


Inverlochy  Castle 


Plan  of  Inverlochy  Castle 


Setting  out  from  Oban  as  the  usual  method 
of  entering  the  Caledonian  Canal,  we  reach  at 


74     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Fort  William,  on  the  southern  edge  of  the 
great  county  of  Inverness,  the  first  of  the  well- 
known  castles  which  lend  so  much  to  the  pic- 
turesqueness  of  the  scenery  of  the  Canal.  The 
origin  of  Inverlochy  Castle  is  shrouded  in 
mystery,  tradition  ascribing  it  to  the  Comyns. 
Some  authorities  have  given  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury as  the  date  of  its  erection,  but  MacGib- 
bon  and  Ross  place  it  among  the  structures  of 
the  thirteenth  century  on  purely  architectural 
grounds.  The  main  reason  for  this  attribution 
is  the  fact  that  the  walls  of  enceinte  stand 
alone,  with  no  trace  of  courtyard  buildings,  or 
windows  and  shot-holes  to  indicate  that  any 
ever  existed. 

The  courtyard  is  about  a  hundred  feet 
square.  Its  walls  are  nine  feet  thick  and  about 
twenty-five  in  height.  It  stands  on  level 
ground,  and  about  thirty  feet  from  the  wall 
was  a  moat  forty  feet  wide.  This  was  for- 
merly filled  by  the  river  Lochy,  which  has  long 
pursued  another  course.  The  entrance  was 
through  two  gateways,  one  on  the  north  and 
one  on  the  south  side,  each  protected  by  a 
portcullis.  Each  corner  is  provided  with  a 
round  tower,  mounted  by  a  winding  stair  in 
the  thickness  of  the  wall.  Three  of  these  are 
about  fourteen  feet  in  internal  diameter,  while 


Northwestern  Scotland  75 


the  fourth,  Comyn's  Tower,  at  the  northwest 
corner,  was  used  as  a  keep,  and  is  about  twenty 
feet  in  diameter  inside. 

According  to  a  fabulous  tradition,  here  was 
the  site  of  an  ancient  Pictish  city,  one  of 
whose  rulers.  King  Achaius,  in  790,  signed  a 
treaty  with  Charlemagne,  and  which  was  a 
great  place  of  resort  for  French  and  Spanish 
merchants  and  mercenaries.  This  town,  being 
destroyed  by  the  Danes,  was  never  rebuilt. 
The  castle  was  probably  built  in  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  stated,  and  occupied  by  the  thanes 
of  Lochaber,  including  Banquo,  the  founder 
of  the  royal  family  of  Stuart.  In  the  time  of 
Edward  I,  the  castle  belonged  to  the  Comyns, 
then  at  the  height  of  their  power. 

Because  of  its  retired  situation  in  the  heart 
of  the  Highlands,  the  castle  never  was  re- 
quired to  resist  a  foreign  invader,  and  served 
simply  as  a  stronghold  in  the  interminable 
tribal  disputes  which  were  the  chronic  state 
of  the  Highland  clans.  In  1645,  the  castle 
saw  a  bloody  battle  between  a  Jacobite  army 
under  the  Marquis  of  Montrose,  and  Argyle's 
troops,  partly  Highlanders  and  partly  Low- 
landers.  Montrose,  after  devastating  Argyll- 
shire, had  started  through  the  Great  Glen  to 
capture  Inverness,  when  his  scouts  brought 


76     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


him  intelligeDce  that  the  Marquis  of  Argyle, 
with  an  army  twice  as  large  as  his,  was  close 
on  his  heels.  Montrose  doubled  on  his  tracks, 
and  made  a  forced  march  over  the  mountains 
and  through  the  glens  to  surprise  his  enemy. 
Argyle  turned  over  the  command  of  his  troops 
to  his  cousin,  Campbell  of  Auchinbreck,  and 
retired  to  a  boat  in  the  loch.  Montrose  at- 
tacked at  dawn  on  the  2d  of  February.  Al- 
though Argyle  had  a  favourable  position, 
flanked  by  the  castle,  in  which  he  had  posted 
a  body  of  his  troops,  his  right  wing  crumpled 
at  the  first  charge.  Disheartened,  his  whole 
army  took  to  precipitate  flight,  save  about  two 
hundred  men,  who  held  the  castle.  Montrose's 
troops  pursued  the  fleeing  Campbells  for  eight 
miles,  slaughtering  without  mercy,  in  spite  of 
the  efforts  of  Montrose  to  stop  the  carnage. 
About  fifteen  hundred  of  Argyle's  men  fell, 
while  Montrose  had  only  three  privates  killed. 
The  castle  surrendered,  and  its  Lowland  of- 
ficers were  paroled.  Montrose  sent  an  exult- 
ing letter  to  Charles,  in  which  he  said,  "  Give 
me  leave,  after  I  have  reduced  this  country, 
and  conquered  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  to  say 
to  your  Majesty,  as  David's  general  to  his 
master.  Come  thou  thyself,  lest  this  country  be 
called  by  my  name."   The  King  received  this 


Northwestern  Scotland  77 


letter  while  the  royal  and  parliamentary  com- 
missioners were  negotiating  peace  at  Ux- 
bridge,  and  immediately  broke  off  the  nego- 
tiations, a  circumstance  which  led  to  his  ruin. 

Invergarry  Castle 

Near  the  centre  of  the  Caledonian  Canal, 
on  a  thickly  wooded  and  precipitous  bank,  and 
forming  one  of  the  most  picturesque  objects 
on  the  route,  stands  the  majestic  but  ruinous 
Castle  of  Invergarry.  This  was  the  strong- 
hold of  the  Macdonalds  of  Glengarry,  and 
owes  its  present  dilapidated  condition  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  sacked  and  burned  in  1746  by 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  because  of  the  atti- 
tude of  its  proprietors  in  the  rebellion  of  the 
previous  year.  It  is  said  that  Prince  Charlie 
was  twice  sheltered  within  its  walls. 

The  castle  was  an  L-shaped  structure  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  with  an  oblong  staircase 
tower  in  the  re-entering  angle,  and  a  round 
tower  at  the  northeast  corner.  The  building 
was  five  stories  high,  and  had  a  noble  hall 
forty-five  by  twenty-two  feet.  It  was  very 
commodious,  but  not  adapted  for  serious  de- 
fence. 


78     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Urquhart  Castle 

The  ancient  and  extensive  fortification 
known  as  Urquhart  Castle  stands  on  the 
southern  side  of  Urquhart  Bay,  overlooking 
Loch  Ness  from  the  west.  It  occupies  two 
hills  of  sandstone  and  encloses  an  area  of  about 
five  hundred  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 
The  southern  court  is  much  larger  and  higher 
than  the  northern  one,  and  the  two  combined 
form  an  irregular  figure  eight.  The  castle  was 
defended  on  the  east  by  the  loch,  and  on  the 
west  by  a  ditch  sixteen  feet  wide  and  twenty- 
five  feet  deep.  This  was  crossed  by  a  draw- 
bridge at  the  lowest  point  between  the  two 
hills.  This  naturally  weak  spot  was  defended 
by  a  gatehouse  consisting  of  two  towers  with 
rounding  fronts,  between  which  was  the  en- 
trance. The  bridge  did  not  lead  directly  to 
the  gateway,  which  was  defended  by  a  port- 
cuUis,  but  abutted  on  the  base  of  the  northern 
tower.  Opposite  this  gateway  was  another  on 
the  water  side,  giving  access  to  a  sloping 
beach  where  boats  might  land. 

The  most  imposing  part  of  the  remaining 
structures  is  the  keep  at  the  extreme  northern 
end  of  the  site.  This  is  an  oblong  tower  forty- 
one  by  thirty-six  feet,  and  four  stories  high. 


Northwestern  Scotland  79 


The  entrance  was  on  the  first  floor,  and  was 
reached  by  a  drawbridge  from  a  pier  in  the 
courtyard.  The  castle  was  originally  an  en- 
ceinte of  the  earliest  period,  and  the  western 
walls  date  from  its  first  construction.  The 
keep,  at  least  in  its  upper  portions,  was  built 
by  Grant  of  Freuchie  in  the  first  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

Urquhart  Castle  was  built  as  early  as  the 
twelfth  century,  for  the  purpose  of  repressing 
the  Highland  tribes,  and  extending  the  royal 
domains  into  the  uncivilized  northwest.  It  was 
a  royal  castle  of  William  the  Lion,  and  after- 
wards was  held  by  the  Durwards  and  the 
Comyns.  In  1297  it  was  besieged  and  taken 
by  Edward  I.  Six  years  later  he  again  laid 
siege  to  it,  but  the  works  which  he  had  con- 
structed while  previously  in  possession  enabled 
the  garrison  to  make  a  most  determined  and 
protracted  resistance.  As  a  result,  when  it 
was  finally  taken  by  storm,  the  garrison,  from 
the  governor,  Alexander  Bois,  down,  was  put 
to  the  sword.  Bruce  again  made  Urquhart  a 
royal  castle.  In  1359  it  was  given  to  William, 
Earl  of  Sutherland,  and  in  1371  Robert  II 
granted  the  castle  and  barony  of  Urquhart  to 
his  son,  David  Senechalus,  Earl  of  Strathearn, 
failing  whom,  to  Alexander  Senechalus.  In 


80     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


1450  it  was  given  to  the  Earl  of  Ross,  but 
reverted  to  the  Crown  when  his  estates  were 
forfeited.  The  last  change  of  possession  took 
place  in  1509,  when  the  estate  was  acquired 
by  the  Grants  in  reward  for  eminent  services 
against  the  Lords  of  the  Isles.  James  IV 
in  this  year  granted  a  charter  to  John  Grant 
of  Freuchie,  requiring  him  to  repair,  build  up 
and  construct  in  the  capital  messuage  of 
Urquhart  a  tower,  with  a  counterscarp  or 
rampart  of  stone  and  lime,  and  also  within 
the  castle  a  hall,  chamber  and  kitchen  and  all 
other  needful  houses  and  offices.  Having 
fulfilled  these  conditions,  the  Grants  have 
maintained  possession  to  the  present  day,  al- 
though the  castle  has  been  abandoned  for  two 
centuries. 

Inverness  Castle 

The  last  of  the  great  castles  of  the  Cale- 
donian Canal  stood  at  Inverness,  and  had  a 
most  stirring  history.  No  traces  of  it  now  re- 
main, as  it  has  been  replaced  by  a  jail  and 
other  county  buildings.  This  castle  was  the 
home  of  Macbeth,  but  not  the  scene  of  the 
murder  of  Duncan.  Malcolm  Canmore  razed 
Macbeth's  castle  after  avenging  the  murder  of 
his  father,  and  built  another  on  the  summit  of 


Northwestern  Scotland  81 


the  Castlehill,  which  for  centuries  was  the  most 
important  royal  stronghold  in  the  north  of 
Scotland.  The  Comyns  of  Badenoch  wrested 
it  from  the  Crown  in  the  thirteenth  century 
and  held  it  for  fifty  years.  From  them  it 
passed  to  Edward  I,  and  then  to  the  Bruce. 
James  I  held  a  parliament  in  the  castle  in 
1427,  and  imprisoned  Alexander,  Lord  of  the 
Isles,  for  a  year.  When  released,  he  speedily 
came  back  with  an  army  and  burned  the  town, 
though  unable  to  take  the  castle.  John,  his 
successor,  in  1455,  was  more  successful,  and 
took  the  castle  by  surprise.  James  III, 
James  IV,  and  the  Regent  Mary  of  Guise, 
all  occupied  the  castle  at  various  times.  In 
1562,  Queen  Mary  entered  the  town  with  the 
Earl  of  Moray,  and  was  refused  admittance 
to  the  castle  by  the  governor,  a  subordinate  of 
the  Earl  of  Huntly.  She  took  up  her  resi- 
dence in  a  private  house,  but  was  speedily 
joined  by  so  many  of  the  Mackintoshes,  Era- 
sers and  Monroes,  that  she  was  able  to  reduce 
the  castle  and  put  the  governor  to  death.  In 
1645  the  parliamentary  forces  successfully 
withstood  a  regular  siege,  but  four  years  later 
the  fortress  was  taken  and  half  destroyed  by 
the  royalists.    It  was  finally  blown  up  and 


82     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


entirely  ruined  by  Prince  Charles  Edward  in 
1746. 

Muckrach  Castle 

Muckrach  Castle  stands  about  four  miles 
southwest  of  Grantown.  It  was  built  in  1598 
by  the  second  son  of  John  Grant  of  Freuchie, 
and  was  the  original  home  of  the  well-known 
family  of  Grant  of  Rothiemurchus.  It  is  a 
square  keep  with  a  round  turret  at  the  north- 
west corner,  and  was  formerly  connected  with 
an  extensive  courtyard,  a  corner  tower  of 
which  alone  stands.  The  keep  offers  rather 
scanty  accommodation,  being  only  about 
twenty  feet  square  inside,  but  more  room  is 
given  on  the  upper  floors  by  corbelling  out  the 
staircase  turret  to  form  a  square  room. 

Buihven  Castle 

Ruthven  Castle  has  a  very  imposing  effect 
from  a  distance,  but  on  close  examination 
presents  nothing  of  interest.  The  present 
structure  is  the  ruinous  remnant  of  an  eight- 
eenth century  barrack.  The  castle  stands  on 
a  mound  about  a  mile  from  Kingussie,  which 
has  been  fortified  for  ages.  Here  stood  a 
fortress  of  the  Comyns,  and  this  was  the  chief 


Northwestern  Scotland  83 


stronghold  of  the  Wolf  of  Badenoch  in  the 
fourteenth  century.  Another  castle  was  built 
on  the  site  in  the  sixteenth  century,  but  de- 
molished by  Claverhouse  in  1689.  Again  re- 
built, it  played  a  part  in  the  Rebellion  of 
1715.  This  castle  was  built  in  1718,  and  was 
burned  after  CuUoden  in  1746. 

Castle  Roy 

Castle  Roy  or  Redcastle,  in  the  Abernethy 
district  of  Inverness-shire,  stands  about  a  mile 
northeast  of  Broomhill  on  the  Highland  Rail- 
way. The  enclosing  wall  crowns  a  rocky 
hillock,  ten  or  fifteen  feet  higher  than  the  sur- 
rounding fields,  on  a  position  considerably 
higher  than  the  valley  of  the  Spey.  The  castle 
is  a  simple  quadrangular  enceinte  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  about  eighty  feet  long,  and 
two-thirds  as  wide.  The  walls  are  seven  feet 
thick,  and  still  remain  standing  to  a  height  of 
twenty-five  feet.  At  one  corner  is  a  square 
tower  and  another  corner  seems  to  have  been 
pulled  down  to  add  a  tower,  which  was  never 
erected.  The  only  means  of  defence  seems 
to  have  been  from  the  parapet,  as  there  is  no 
trace  of  a  ditch.  The  castle  seems  to  have 
been  originally  built  on  the  simplest  possible 


84     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


plan,  a  square  wall  to  enclose  the  neighbour- 
ing population  and  their  property.  The  only 
buildings  were  wooden  sheds  resting  against 
the  curtain,  of  which  naturally  no  trace  now 
remains.  Nothing  is  known  of  the  history  of 
the  tower,  except  that  it  is  said  to  have  been 
a  stronghold  of  the  Comyns. 

Loch-an-Eilan  Castle 

The  Castle  of  Loch-an-Eilan  covers  an 
island  in  a  loch,  surrounded  by  lofty  moun- 
tains, three  miles  from  Aviemore  Station. 
Like  Lochindorb  Castle,  which  it  much  resem- 
bles in  situation,  it  is  a  thirteenth  century  erec- 
tion, and  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Wolf  of 
Badenoch.  As  the  castle  is  occupied  by  os- 
preys,  no  boat  is  allowed  on  the  loch,  and  no 
description  of  the  character  of  the  castle  ex- 
ists. It  forms  a  most  picturesque  feature  in 
the  landscape. 

Castles  of  the  Far  North 

In  the  divisions  of  Ross  and  Cromarty  cas- 
tles are  widely  separated.  The  only  one  of 
great  antiquity  seems  to  be  EUendonan,  which 
occupies  a  strong  position  at  the  junction  of 


Northwestern  Scotland  85 


three  lochs,  Alsh,  Duich  and  Long.  The 
scanty  ruins  are  very  picturesquely  situated. 
This  site  was  originally  occupied  by  a  vitrified 
fort,  which  was  replaced  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury by  a  castle  of  enceinte.  It  was  conferred 
on  Colin  Fitzgerald,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond, by  Alexander  III,  in  1266,  after  the 
battle  of  Largs.  In  1331,  Randolph,  Earl  of 
Moray,  Warden  of  Scotland,  as  a  warning  to 
the  turbulent  inhabitants  of  the  district,  exe- 
cuted fifty  delinquents,  and  adorned  the  walls 
with  their  heads.  In  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  it  was  the  manor  house  of  the 
Mackenzies  of  Kintail.  It  was  destroyed  in 
1719  by  three  English  men-of-war  because  of 
the  attitude  of  its  owners  in  the  Rebellion  of 
1715. 

Among  the  other  castles  of  Ross,  all  simple 
structures  of  the  fourth  period,  may  be  men- 
tioned Ballone  Castle,  Castle  Craig  and  Kil- 
coy  Castle,  on  the  seacoast,  and  Fairburn 
Tower,  all  ruined,  and  Castle  Leod,  Kinkell 
Castle  and  Redcastle,  which  are  still  inhab- 
ited. 

The  county  of  Sutherland  is  even  poorer  in 
castles  than  its  southern  neighbour.  Dun- 
robin,  now  the  palatial  seat  of  the  Duke  of 
Sutherland,  overlooking  the  German  Ocean, 


86     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


contains  fragments  of  an  early  keep,  later 
extended  to  form  a  courtyard  castle,  but  these 
are  so  surrounded  by  structures  of  the  last 
century  as  almost  to  lose  their  individuality. 
The  castles  of  Ardvreck,  Balnakiel  and  Edder- 
chalder  are  structures  of  late  origin,  and 
Helmsdale  Castle  is  the  fragmentary  ruin  of 
a  simple  keep. 

In  Caithness  we  are  able  to  enumerate  Braal 
Castle  and  the  Old  Man  of  Wick,  keeps  of  the 
second  period,  Ackergill,  Bucholie  and  Dirlot, 
ruins  of  the  third  period,  and  a  number  of 
structures  of  later  date.  The  most  important 
of  these  is  Girnigoe,  a  tremendous  courtyard 
castle  situated  on  a  narrow  promontory  reach- 
ing out  into  the  German  Ocean.  This  equals 
in  extent  many  of  the  more  southern  castles, 
but  by  reason  of  its  inaccessible  situation  and 
lack  of  historic  interest,  is  little  visited.  The 
other  castles  of  the  fourth  period  which  may  be 
enumerated  are  Berriedale,  Brins,  Downreay, 
Dunibeath,  Forse,  Keiss  and  Knockinnan. 

Kirkwall  Palace 

Crossing  the  stormy  Pentland  Firth  to  the 
Orkney  Islands,  and  from  there  to  the  bleak 
Shetlands,  we  shall  find  in  both  groups  castel- 


Northwestern  Scotland  87 


lated  structures  which  are  well  worthy  of  our 
attention.  One  of  the  most  important  build- 
ings in  Kirkwall  is  the  Palace  of  Earl  Pat- 
rick, one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  Scotch 
domestic  architecture.  This  was  built  in  1607 
by  Earl  Patrick  Stuart,  who  was  ruler  of 
Orkney  and  Shetland  from  1600  to  1614.  In 
order  to  build  the  palace,  he  taxed  the  inhab- 
itants most  unmercifully,  and  otherwise  ruled 
in  such  a  cruel  and  despotic  manner  that  he 
came  to  death  on  the  scaffold.  The  last  in- 
habitant of  the  place  was  Bishop  McKenzie, 
who  died  in  1688.  A  few  years  ago,  a  plan 
was  broached  for  restoring  these  buildings  for 
use  as  a  Sheriff's  Court,  but  was  abandoned. 
As  the  structures  are  practically  complete  ex- 
cept the  roof,  and  of  great  architectural  inter- 
est, it  would  be  eminently  desirable  if  they 
could  be  thus  preserved.  The  palace  fronts 
toward  the  west  and  forms  three  sides  of  a 
square.  The  principal  doorway  in  the  court- 
yard is  a  remarkable  rendering  of  the  Doric 
order,  unique  in  Scotland  at  such  an  early 
date.  The  exterior  of  the  palace  is  adorned 
with  a  number  of  oriel  windows,  the  archi- 
tectural details  of  which  are  well  designed  and 
carried  out.  Our  illustration  will  give  an  ex- 
cellent idea  of  these. 


88     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  ground  floor  of  the  palace  is  vaulted, 
but  the  other  stories  had  timber  floors  which 
have  disappeared.  The  first  floor  is  reached 
by  a  wide  and  handsome  stair.  The  principal 
apartment  is  the  great  hall,  a  noble  room 
fifty-four  feet  long  and  twenty  wide.  It  is 
lighted  by  several  oriels  and  other  windows, 
and  contains  two  fireplaces,  one  of  which  is 
finely  carved.  There  are  several  private  apart- 
ments, and  one  called  the  chapel.  On  the 
ground  floor  is  a  kitchen  with  a  fireplace 
almost  as  large  as  the  room. 

Near  the  Earl's  Palace  and  attached  to  the 
cathedral  is  another  palace  of  somewhat  sim- 
ilar architecture,  built  about  sixty  years  ear- 
lier, and  long  used  as  an  episcopal  residence. 
A  portion  is  still  used  as  a  domicile,  but  the 
greater  part  stands  roofless  and  floorless.  At 
one  end  is  a  large  round  tower,  with  several 
square  rooms  within.  The  upper  story  of  this 
is  raised  on  the  original  parapets. 

Birsay  Palace 

Twenty  miles  from  Kirkwall,  at  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  island  of  Mainland,  quite 
isolated  from  towns  or  habitations,  the  travel- 
ler will  find  the  imposing  ruins  of  the  ancient 


Northwestern  Scotland  89 


palace  of  the  Earls  of  Orkney.  This  was  con- 
siderably enlarged  by  Robert  Stuart,  natural 
brother  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  and  his  son 
Patrick,  builder  of  the  palace  at  Kirkwall. 
Earl  Robert  established  in  Orkney  a  kind  of 
independent  regality,  hardly  amenable  to  the 
rule  of  the  monarch,  and  Patrick  kept  up  this 
policy  until  it  brought  him  to  the  block  for 
treason.  Among  the  principal  counts  in  the 
indictment  against  him  was  the  maintenance 
of  the  famous  inscription  which  was  placed  on 
Birsay  Palace:  "  Dominus  Robertus  Stuartus, 
filius  Jacobi  quinti  Reoj  Scotorum,  hoc  opus  in- 
struxit."  While  he  perhaps  only  intended  to 
state  that  his  father,  James  V,  was  King  of 
Scots,  his  use  of  the  nominative  instead  of  the 
genitive  case  caused  him  to  appear  as  assum- 
ing the  title  for  himself.  The  bad  Latin  in 
this  case  cost  his  son  his  life. 

Birsay  Palace  is  a  two  story  building  con- 
structed about  a  courtyard.  It  is  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  long  and  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  wide,  with  towers  at  three  cor- 
ners. Except  the  kitchen  and  the  hall  above 
it  at  the  north  end,  the  apartments  are  so 
dilapidated  as  to  make  their  uses  obscure.  The 
palace,  however,  had  large  accommodations, 
and  it  is  certainly  remarkable  to  find  such  an 


90     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


extensive  structure  in  so  remote  a  corner  of 
Scotland. 

Notland  Castle 


Plans  of  Notland  Castle 


Notland  Castle,  on  the  island  of  Westray, 
in  the  Shetland  group,  is  a  remarkable  castle 
of  the  fourth  period,  built  on  the  Z-plan,  to 
which  has  been  added  a  large  courtyard  of 
later  date.  Externally  the  castle  is  remark- 
able by  the  extraordinary  number  of  large 
shot-holes  which  are  spotted  all  over  it.  At 
least  sixty  may  be  counted  at  present,  and 
numerous  others  formerly  existed,  so  that,  if 
all  were  used,  the  castle  must  have  bristled 
with  guns. 

Internally  the  most  surprising  feature  in 


Northwestern  Scotland  91 


this  out-of-the-world  castle  is  the  great  stair- 
case in  the  southwestern  tower.  This  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  all  of  Scotland,  and  is  excelled 
only  by  those  at  Fyvie  and  Glamis.  The  steps 
are  made  of  single  slabs  of  red  sandstone 
seven  feet  long.  The  newel  is  over  three  feet 
in  diameter,  and  is  capped  with  an  elaborately 
carved  ball-shaped  head. 

The  castle  probably  dates  from  the  sixteenth 
century  and  the  architect  was  undoubtedly 
familiar  with  Fyvie,  which  it  closely  resembles 
in  style.  In  1560  Gilbert  Balfour  of  Westray 
obtained  possession  of  the  castle  from  Adam 
Bothwell,  Bishop  of  Orkney,  and  it  is  said 
that  he  prepared  it  for  the  reception  of  Queen 
Mary  and  Bothwell,  who  made  plans  to  flee 
hither.  After  the  defeat  of  Montrose,  his 
officers  fled  here,  and  the  castle  was  conse- 
quently captured  and  destroyed  by  the  forces 
of  Cromwell. 

Scalloway  Castle 

Shetland  possesses  the  ruins  of  two  castles 
of  some  importance.  One  of  these  is  Scallo- 
way, on  the  Mainland,  situated  in  the  centre 
of  a  landlocked  harbour  on  a  bold  peninsula. 
It  consists  of  an  oblong  building  about  sixty 
feet  long  and  thirty  feet  wide,  to  one  corner 


92      Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  which  is  joined  a  square  tower.  All  the 
corners  are  furnished  with  round  turrets, 
which  must  have  given  it  a  most  picturesque 
appearance  when  the  roof  was  in  place.  The 
general  style  of  the  architecture  is  the  same  as 
that  of  the  palace  at  Kirkwall,  and  Muness, 
and  it  is  of  the  same  date,  and  probably  de- 
signed by  the  same  builder.  Scalloway  was 
erected  in  1600  for  Earl  Patrick,  and  was 
occasionally  used  for  holding  the  law-courts. 
It  was  built  by  forced  labour,  the  despotic  earl 
compelling  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  to 
furnish  men  for  its  building  and  provisions 
for  its  victualling.  He  personally,  at  the  head 
of  an  ample  force  of  solders,  superintended 
the  carrying  out  of  his  orders.  It  was  last 
occupied  by  the  forces  of  Cromwell,  who,  in 
accordance  with  their  usual  custom,  burned  it 
on  departing. 

Muness  Castle 

The  most  northern  castle  in  Scotland  is 
Muness,  on  the  island  of  Unst,  the  northern- 
most of  the  Shetland  group.  The  inscription 
over  the  doorway  places  its  origin,  as  follows: 

"  List  ye  to  know  this  building  quha  began? 
Laurance  the  Bruce,  he  was  that  worthy  man, 


Northwestern  Scotland  93 


Quha  earnestlie  his  airis  and  alfspring  prayis, 
To  help  and  not  to  hurt  this  wark  alwayis. 
The  zeir  of  God  1598/' 

In  spite  of  the  wish,  not  only  the  castle  walls, 
but  the  very  stone  on  which  this  inscription  is 
written,  threatened  to  fall.  Laurance  Bruce 
was  the  son  of  a  laird  of  Perthshire.  His 
mother  was  mother  of  Robert  Stuart,  Abbot 
of  Holyrood  and  Earl  of  Orkney,  natural  son 
of  James  V.  He  took  up  residence  in  this 
remote  spot  because  of  a  murder  he  committed 
in  Perthshire,  from  punishment  for  which  his 
brother's  power  in  this  quarter  was  able  to 
save  him. 

Muness  Castle  is  a  long  oblong  structure, 
with  round  towers  at  diagonally  opposite  cor- 
ners. It  is  of  architecture  similar  to  the 
Earl's  Palace  at  Kirkwall  and  Scalloway  Cas- 
tle, and  probably  was  planned  by  the  same 
architect. 

The  Broch  of  Mousa 

A  constant  feature  of  the  landscape  in  Unst, 
as  in  many  of  the  other  northern  islands,  is 
the  presence  of  brochs.  Most  of  these  are  in 
a  ruinous  state,  which  is  not  to  be  wondered 


94     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


at,  considering  their  great  age,  and  simple 
mode  of  construction.  The  best  example  of 
these  towers  stands  on  Mousa,  the  southeast- 
erly island  of  the  Shetland  group.  It  occu- 
pies a  small  rocky  promontory  facing  the 
mainland,  about  twenty  feet  above  high  water 
mark  and  the  same  distance  from  the  edge  of 
the  plateau.  It  is  built  of  slate  rocks,  laid  flat 
without  Ume.  The  tower  is  fifty  feet  in  ex- 
ternal diameter  at  the  base  and  thirty-eight 
feet  at  the  top,  and  is  forty-five  feet  high 
inside.  The  walls  are  more  than  fifteen  feet 
thick  at  the  bottom.  They  are  full  of  galleries 
and  small  rooms,  extending  entirely  around 
the  building  on  six  different  levels,  and 
reached  by  a  continuous  staircase  from  bottom 
to  top  within  the  wall.  The  only  external 
opening  is  the  entrance  door,  about  five  feet 
by  three.  Inside  there  are  numerous  windows 
opening  on  the  comi:.  Probably  the  court  was 
surrounded  by  wooden  sheds,  as  a  set-off 
course  about  eight  feet  from  the  groimd  seems 
to  have  been  intended  as  a  support  for  the 
rafters. 

Mousa  is  first  referred  to  in  E gill's  Saga, 
which  states  that  about  a.  d.  900  Bjorn  Bry- 
nulfson  fled  from  Norway  to  Shetland  with 
Thora  Ronaldsdatter  because  her  father  would 


Northwestern  Scotland  95 


not  consent  to  their  marriage.  He  was  ship- 
wrecked on  the  rocky  coast,  and  found  in  the 
empty  broch  a  refuge  for  the  winter  and  a 
storehouse  for  his  cargo  while  the  ship  was 
being  repaired.  Again,  about  1156,  as  told 
in  the  Orkneyinga  Saga,  the  Jarl  Erlend 
Yunga  became  enamoured  of  the  mother  of 
Jarl  Harold  and  carried  her  off  from  Orkney 
to  Shetland.  They  took  possession  of  Mosey- 
arborg,  and  Jarl  Harold,  arriving  in  pursuit, 
was  obliged  to  sit  down  for  a  blockade,  as  the 
place  could  not  be  captured  except  by  starv- 
ing out  the  occupants.  This  process  took  so 
long,  however,  that  the  two  earls  finally  made 
peace,  and  the  siege  was  abandoned. 


CHAPTER  V 


THE  NORTHEASTERN  HIGHLANDS 

Cawdor  Castle 

As  in  the  northwestern  Highlands,  so  in  the 
northern  parts  of  the  great  territory  east  of  the 
Caledonian  Canal,  castles  of  historical  interest 
are  few  and  far  between.  Far  removed  from 
the  southern  and  debatable  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, and  protected  by  mountain  and  flood,  the 
waves  of  foreign  invasion  rarely  reached  the 
northern  castles,  and  their  chief  sieges  were 
those  of  tribal  battle.  Consequently,  the  man- 
sions in  general  are  hardly  worthy  of  mention 
on  grounds  of  historic  interest,  and  a  great 
number  of  them  show  no  noteworthy  architec- 
tural beauties  or  peculiarities.  We  shall,  how- 
ever, find  a  certain  number  worthy  of  mention 
and  illustration,  and  preeminent  among  these 
is  Cawdor  Castle. 

This  imposing  structure  stands  on  the  edge 
of  the  shire  of  Nairn,  in  the  town  of  Cawdor, 
and  on  the  banks  of  the  burn  of  the  same 

96 


Cawdor  Castle 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  97 


name.  The  appearance  of  the  castle  is  that 
of  a  magnificent  ancient  fortalice,  battle- 
mented,  turreted  and  gabled  in  a  most  pictur- 
esque manner ;  most  of  the  buildings,  however, 
are  of  comparatively  recent  date,  though  built 
in  harmony  with  the  older  keep,  which  occu- 
pies the  centre,  and  towers  above  all  the  sur- 
rounding buildings. 

The  Calders  of  Calder  are  said  to  have  de- 
scended from  a  brother  of  Macbeth,  to  whom 
he  resigned  his  thanedom  of  Calder  when  he 
ascended  the  throne.  Their  original  castle  was 
at  Nairn,  and  they  received  a  license  to  build 
the  tower  of  Calder  in  1393,  and  another  in 
1454.  It  was  at  this  latter  date,  in  all  proba- 
bility, that  the  present  keep  was  built.  The 
last  of  the  line  was  Muriella  Calder,  born 
about  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
As  heiress  to  the  estates  she  was  a  personage 
of  some  consequence,  and  John  of  Lorn,  head 
of  Clan  Campbell,  decided  that  her  person  was 
a  valuable  possession.  So,  one  day  in  the  year 
1510,  while  the  child  was  walking  with  her 
nurse  in  the  grounds  of  Calder  Castle,  a  band 
of  Campbells  swooped  down  and  abducted  her. 
The  nurse  fled  shrieking  and  warned  the  girl's 
uncles,  who  gathered  their  forces  hastily  and 
set  out  in  pursuit.    They  soon  came  up  with 


98     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  group  which  had  the  child  in  charge,  and 
would  have  rescued  her  but  for  a  stratagem 
of  Campbell  of  Inverliver.  This  resourceful 
soldier  inverted  a  large  camp-kettle  as  if  to 
conceal  the  heiress,  and  charged  his  seven  sons 
to  defend  it  to  the  death,  while  he  rode  on  with 
the  prize.  The  seven  young  men  made  a  most 
heroic  defence  of  the  kettle,  and  all  of  them 
were  killed  before  the  uncles  could  overturn 
it  —  to  find  no  Muriella.  Meanwhile  the  rest 
of  the  band  had  made  good  their  escape.  The 
nurse,  before  her  charge  had  been  taken  from 
her,  had  bitten  off  a  joint  of  her  little  finger 
as  a  mark  for  future  identification.  That  this 
precaution  was  not  unnecessary  is  shown  by 
the  remark  of  Campbell  of  Auchinbreck. 
While  congratulations  were  being  showered  on 
the  raiders  over  their  safe  arrival  in  Argyle 
with  their  prize,  some  marsport  asked  what 
would  happen  if  the  child  died  before  reaching 
marriageable  age.  She  can  never  die,"  said 
he,  "  as  long  as  a  red-haired  lassie  can  be 
found  on  either  side  of  Loch  Awe."  She  did 
not  die,  but  was  married  to  John  of  Lorn,  and 
thus  the  Campbells  acquired  the  lands  of 
Calder,  the  name  of  which  they  changed  to 
Cawdor.  By  them  the  castle  was  much  en- 
larged, and  thus  assumed  its  present  aspect. 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  99 


It  is  famous  as  having  been  the  hiding  place 
of  Lord  Lovat  after  the  rebellion.  The  fol- 
lowing description  is  quoted  from  Tytler: 

"  The  whole  of  Cawdor  Castle  is  peculiarly 
calculated  to  impress  the  mind  with  a  retro- 
spect of  past  ages,  feudal  customs,  and  deeds 
of  darkness.  Its  iron-grated  doors,  its  ancient 
tapestry,  hanging  loosely  over  secret  doors 
and  hidden  passages,  its  winding  staircases, 
its  rattling  drawbridge,  all  conspired  to  ex- 
cite the  most  gloomy  imagery  in  the  mind. 
It  was  indeed  a  fertile  spot  for  the  writers 
of  our  modern  romances.  The  mysteries 
of  Udolpho  would  vanish  in  contemplation 
of  the  less  perspicuous  intricacies  in  the 
castle  of  Cawdor.  Among  these  must  be  men- 
tioned the  secret  apartment  which  so  effectu- 
ally concealed  Lord  Lovat  from  the  sight  of 
his  pursuers.  Never  was  anything  so  artfully 
contrived.  It  is  impossible  for  the  most  dis- 
cerning eye,  without  previous  information,  to 
discover  the  place  of  his  retreat.  And  even 
after  being  told  that  a  place  of  this  nature 
existed  in  the  castle,  I  doubt  whether  it  could 
be  discovered.  It  is  placed  immediately  be- 
neath the  rafters  in  one  part  of  the  roof  of  the 
castle.  By  means  of  a  ladder  you  are  con- 
ducted by  the  side  of  one  part  of  a  sloping 


100    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


roof  into  a  kind  of  channel  between  two,  such 
as  frequently  serves  to  convey  rainwater  into 
pipes  for  a  reservoir.  By  proceeding  along 
this  channel,  you  arrive  at  the  foot  of  a  stone 
staircase,  which  leads  up  one  side  of  the  roof 
to  the  right,  and  is  so  artfully  contrived  as  to 
appear  a  part  of  the  ornaments  of  the  build- 
ing when  beheld  at  a  distance.  At  the  end 
of  this  staircase  is  a  room  with  a  single  window 
near  the  floor.  It  is  said  Lord  Lovat  used  to 
be  conducted  to  this  place  when  his  pursuers 
approached,  the  ladder  being  removed  as  soon 
as  he  ascended.  When  the  search  was  over, 
and  the  inquirers  gone,  the  ladder  was  re- 
placed, by  which  means  he  lived  comfortably 
with  the  family,  and  might  long  have  remained 
secure,  if  he  had  not  quitted  the  place  of  his 
retreat.  A  remarkable  tradition  respecting 
the  foundation  of  this  castle  is  worth  notice 
because  circumstances  still  remain  which  plead 
strongly  for  its  truth.  It  is  said  the  original 
proprietor  was  directed  by  a  dream  to  load  an 
ass  with  gold,  turn  it  loose,  and,  following  its 
footsteps,  build  a  castle  wherever  the  ass 
rested.  In  an  age  when  dreams  were  con- 
sidered as  the  immediate  oracles  of  heaven, 
and  their  suggestions  implicitly  attended  to,  it 
is  natural  to  suppose  the  ass  —  as  tradition  re- 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  101 


lates  —  received  its  burden  and  its  liberty. 
After  strolling  about  from  one  thistle  to 
another,  it  arrived  at  last  beneath  the  branches 
of  a  hawthorn  tree,  where,  fatigued  with  the 
weight  on  its  back,  it  knelt  down  to  rest.  The 
space  round  the  tree  was  immediately  cleared 
for  building,  the  foundation  laid,  and  a  tower 
erected:  but  the  tree  was  preserved,  and  re- 
mains at  this  moment  a  singular  memorial  of 
superstition  attended  by  advantage.  The  situ- 
ation of  the  castle  accidentally  proved  the  most 
favourable  that  could  be  chosen;  the  country 
round  it  is  fertile,  productive  of  trees,  in  a 
wholesome  spot;  and  a  river,  with  a  clear  and 
rapid  current,  flows  beneath  its  walls.  The 
trunk  of  the  tree,  with  the  knotty  protuber- 
ances of  its  branches,  is  still  shown  in  a  vaulted 
apartment  at  the  bottom  of  the  principal 
tower.  Its  roots  branch  out  beneath  the  floor 
and  its  top  penetrates  through  the  vaulted  arch 
of  stone  above,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  make 
it  appear,  beyond  dispute,  that  the  tree  stood, 
as  it  now  does,  before  the  tower  was  erected. 
For  ages  it  has  been  a  custom  for  guests  in 
the  family  to  assemble  round  it,  and  drink, 
*  Success  to  the  hawthorn ; '  that  is  to  say  in 
other  words,  '  Prosperity  to  the  house  of  Caw- 
dor!'" 


102    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Spynie  Palace 

Spynie  Palace,  about  three  miles  north  of 
Elgin,  was  at  once  the  castle  and  palace  of  the 
bishops  of  Moray.  While  the  cathedral  was  re- 
moved from  here  to  Elgin  in  1224,  the  palace 
remained.  The  ruins  comprise  a  large  and 
strong  keep,  and  portions  of  other  buildings 
surrounding  an  extensive  courtyard.  The 
keep,  which  is  at  the  southwest  corner,  is  sixty- 
two  feet  long  and  forty-four  feet  wide.  The 
walls  are  more  than  ten  feet  thick,  and  still 
more  than  seventy  feet  high.  The  tower  was 
six  stories  high,  two  being  vaulted,  and  the 
rest  of  wood.  In  the  basement  is  a  large 
dungeon,  lighted  and  ventilated  only  by  a 
single  narrow  slit.  The  cellar  also  has  gun- 
holes,  with  enormous  splays  to  the  outside. 
The  enceinte  formerly  had  towers  at  the  other 
three  corners,  one  wall  of  the  southeastern  still 
remaining.  The  gateway  in  the  eastern  wall, 
though  ruinous,  is  a  very  fine  piece  of  archi- 
tecture, and  was  probably  designed  by  the 
builders  of  the  cathedral,  showing  finer  work 
than  is  usual  in  fifteenth  century  castles. 

The  keep  is  said  to  have  been  built  by 
Bishop  David  Stuart,  who  died  in  1475. 
The  Earl  of  Huntly  had  made  a  threat  to 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  103 


"  pull  him  out  of  his  pigeon-holes,"  and  the 
bishop  retorted  that  he  would  build  a  tower 
from  which  the  nobleman  and  his  whole  tribe 
could  not  pull  him.    He  did. 

The  buildings  of  the  enceinte  are  now 
wholly  ruinous  and  show  little  of  the  interior 
arrangements. 

Lochindorb  Castle 

Lochindorb  Castle,  seven  miles  from  Gran- 
town,  occupies  the  whole  of  an  island  in  the 
middle  of  the  loch,  supposed  to  be  wholly 
artificial.  It  is  on  the  usual  quadrilateral  plan 
of  the  castles  of  the  thirteenth  century,  with 
round  towers  at  the  four  corners.  The  walls 
are  seven  feet  thick,  and  about  twenty  high. 
The  most  remarkable  thing  about  this  castle  is 
what  remains  of  an  outer  court  extending 
around  the  south  and  part  of  the  east  sides. 
This  has  a  gateway  facing  the  lake,  but  no 
communication  with  the  castle  itself. 

The  castle  belonged  to  the  Comyns  of  Bade- 
noch  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Edward  I  led 
an  expedition  into  their  territories  in  1303 
for  the  purpose  of  reducing  them  to  submis- 
sion, and,  after  capturing  Lochindorb  Castle, 
resided  there  for  a  month.  The  English  re- 
mained in  possession  for  a  nimaber  of  years. 


104    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


probably  adding  the  outer  court  before  spoken 
of,  to  enclose  the  whole  island  and  prevent  an 
enemy  landing  on  it.  It  passed  into  royal 
possession  when  the  English  left  Scotland.  In 
1335  the  Regent,  Sir  Andrew  Moray,  be- 
sieged in  it  the  Duke  of  Athole,  who  was  hold- 
ing it  for  Edward  Baliol.  In  1372  it  became 
the  stronghold  of  the  fierce  son  of  Robert  II, 
"the  Wolf  of  Badenoch."  In  the  fifteenth 
century  it  was  a  Douglas  stronghold,  and  was 
destroyed  by  the  Thane  of  Cawdor  in  1458  by 
order  of  James  II.  The  iron  gate  of  Cawdor 
came  from  here. 

Fyvie  Castle 

Fyvie  Castle,  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Ythan,  in  northern  Aberdeenshire,  is  the  finest 
example  extant  of  Scottish  castellated  archi- 
tecture. The  castle  occupies  a  mound  in  the 
midst  of  an  extensive  marshy  valley,  and  be- 
cause of  the  security  of  the  position,  the  spot 
has  been  fortified  since  very  early  times.  The 
castle  forms  two  sides  of  a  quadrangle,  the 
south  face  measuring  one  hundred  and  forty- 
seven  feet  and  the  western  front  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  feet.  "  At  the  three  corners 
are  massive  square  towers  finished  with  angle 
turrets  and  high  crow-stepped  gables,  and  in 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  105 


the  centre  of  the  south  front  are  two  project- 
ing drum  towers  with  the  main  entrance  to  the 


castle  between  them.  These 
two  towers,  at  the  height  of 
about  forty-two  feet  from  the 
ground,  are  united  by  a  bold 
arch  eleven  feet  wide,  into 
one  grand  centra]  mass  or 
pavilion  called  the  Seton 
Tower.  Just  beneath  the 
springing  of  the  arch  the 
drums  are  corbelled  out  to  the  square,  and 
on  either  side  they  terminate  in  turrets,  with 
a  fine  gable  in  the  centre,  and  dormers  be- 
tween the  gable  and  turrets,  the  whole  form- 
ing a  magnificent  centre  to  what  is  perhaps 
the  most  imposing  front  of  any  ancient  do- 
mestic edifice  in  Scotland." 
The  earliest  part  of  the  building  is  the  south- 


106    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


eastern  tower,  twenty-four  feet  square,  built 
about  1400  by  Sir  Henry  Preston.  The  Mel- 
drum  Tower,  at  the  other  end  of  the  front,  and 
the  curtain  between,  with  the  exception  of  the 
front  of  the  Seton  Tower,  were  built  by  the 
next  proprietors,  who  held  the  estate  until 
1596. 

The  present  form  of  the  front  is  due  to 
Alexander  Seton,  Lord  Fyvie  and  Earl  of 
Dunfermline,  w^ho  built  the  Seton  Tower  and 
placed  the  ornamental  turreted  upper  stories 
on  the  corner  towers. 

The  great  staircase  of  Fyvie  Castle  is  the 
finest  wheel-stair  to  be  found  in  Scotland. 
The  steps  are  nearly  nine  feet  long,  resting  on 
a  newel  post  twenty-one  inches  in  diameter. 
They  are  supported  by  arches  every  ninety 
degrees. 

Billings  thinks  that  Fyv^ie  was  built  by  a 
French  architect,  but  MacGibbon  and  Ross, 
who  trace  the  distinctive  Scotch  style  rather  to 
the  Low  Countries  than  to  France,  dispute 
this  assertion,  as  follows: 

"  If  a  French  architect  designed  this  build- 
ing, he  must  have  changed  his  style  very  much 
to  suit  his  Scottish  patron,  as  the  architectural 
style  of  Fyvie  has  almost  no  resemblance  to 
French  work.    All  the  details  are  most  de- 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  107 


cidedly  Scottish  in  their  character,  and  bear 
a  close  resemblance  to  those  of  nearly  all  the 
castles  and  mansions  erected  about  the  same 
time  in  Scotland.  No  one  will  surely  maintain 
that  all  the  Scottish  castles  were  designed  by 
Frenchmen,  although  the  assertions  in  Mr. 
Billings'  work  amount  to  almost  this  assump- 
tion. Yet  if  Fyvie  was  the  work  of  a  French 
architect,  we  do  not  see  how  any  other  Scot- 
tish building  of  the  period  can  be  claimed  as 
of  native  design.  .  .  . 

"If  an  example  were  to  be  selected  of  any 
building  in  which  the  work  is  more  peculiarly 
characteristic  of  the  Scottish  style  than  an- 
other, we  do  not  think  a  better  instance  could 
be  adduced  than  Fyvie  Castle.  In  the  south 
front  we  have  all  the  distinguishing  features 
of  the  style  —  plain  walls  below  the  parapet 
and  exuberance  of  enrichment  above;  corbel- 
ling freely  used  where  the  central  round  towers 
change  to  the  square  as  well  as  to  support  the 
angle  turrets;  sharp-roofed  turrets  perched  on 
every  corner;  dormer  windows  raised  on  the 
top  of  the  parapet;  gables  finished  with  crow- 
steps,  and  plain  chimney  heads;  minor  details 
all  equally  Scottish,  including  the  small  corbel 
ornaments  under  the  turrets,  the  cable  and 


108    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


billet  patterns,  and  the  whole  form  and  appli- 
cation of  the  mouldings." 

Kildrummie  Castle 

Kildrmnmie  Castle  is  situated  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  river  Don,  a  few  miles  from  Al- 
ford.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  castles  in  Scot- 
land, two  hundred  feet  by  one  hundred  and 
seventy-five,  and  was  built  by  Gilbert  de  Mo- 
ravia, Bishop  of  Caithness,  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  The  position  is  very  strong.  The 
castle  stands  on  a  high  and  steep  bank,  pro- 
tected by  a  rivulet  on  two  sides,  and  by  a 
ditch  on  the  other  two.  The  plan  is  nearly 
quadrangular.  The  original  enceinte  was 
strengthened  by  six  towers,  four  at  the  cor- 
ners, and  two  on  each  side  of  the  gateway  on 
the  south  side.  The  largest  was  called  the 
Snow  Tower,  and  was  over  fifty  feet  in  diam- 
eter. This  is  now  a  mere  stump.  The  gate 
towers  have  entirely  vanished.  The  hall  on 
the  north  side  is  seventy-three  feet  by  forty- 
one  feet,  and  the  chapel  also  is  very  large. 
The  walls  of  these  buildings  are  almost  level 
with  the  ground. 

The  castle  has  had  a  varied  history.  It  was 
early  a  royal  domain,  belonging  to  the  family 


The  Northeastern  Highlands  109 


of  Bruce,  and  from  them  it  passed  to  the 
house  of  Mar.  It  was  besieged  by  Edward  I 
in  1306,  and  made  a  strong  resistance,  but  was 
finally  captured  through  being  set  on  fire. 
Its  destruction  took  place  in  Cromwell's  wars. 

Drum  Castle 

Drum  Castle  is  situated  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  river  Dee,  three  or  four  miles 
below  Crathes.  It  consists  of  a  massive  and 
ancient  keep,  to  which  has  been  added  a  seven- 
teenth century  mansion.  The  castle  was  prob- 
ably built  by  William  de  Irvine,  on  whom  the 
estate  of  Drum  was  conferred  by  Robert  I. 
The  charter,  dated  1323,  is  in  the  possession 
of  the  family,  who  still  own  the  estate.  The 
keep  is  fifty-three  feet  by  thirty -nine,  with 
walls  twelve  feet  thick,  and  rounded  corners. 
The  tower  contains  three  vaulted  stories,  one 
of  which  was  formerly  divided  into  two,  and 
is  seventy  feet  high.  The  battlements  are 
rounded  at  the  corners,  following  the  curve 
of  the  lower  portion  of  the  walls.  The  house 
was  considerably  extended  in  1619,  and  again 
in  the  last  century,  but  the  additions  have  no 
special  interest. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  SOUTHEASTERN  HIGHLANDS 

Dunnottar  Castle 

DuNNOTTAR  Castle  stands  on  a  plateau  of 
rock  projecting  into  the  German  Ocean,  two 
miles  south  of  Stonehaven.  This  plateau  is  at 
the  average  level  of  this  part  of  the  coast, 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty  feet  above  the 
flow  of  the  tide,  and  is  isolated  from  the  main- 
land by  a  deep  and  wide  cleft.  As  its  precip- 
itous walls  are  washed  by  the  sea  on  all  sides 
except  the  west,  and  inaccessible  except  at  one 
place  on  this  side,  the  natural  position  is  the 
strongest  imaginable  site  for  a  fortress.  The 
resources  of  art  have  been  added  to  those  of 
nature  to  form  one  of  the  most  extensive  and 
important  castles  of  Scotland.  The  area  oc- 
cupied by  the  structure  is  more  than  three 
acres. 

At  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  the 
rock  was  occupied  by  a  parish  church.  Sir 
William  Keith,  perceiving  the  possibilities  of 

110 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  ill 


the  spot  for  defence,  built  a  tower  here,  and 
was  excommunicated  by  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Andrews  for  building  on  sacred  ground.  The 
case  was  referred  to  Rome,  and  on  July  13th, 
1394,  Pope  Benedict  issued  a  bull,  ordering 
the  bishop  to  remove  the  excommunication. 
The  property  was  abandoned  to  secular  use, 
and  Sir  William  was  obliged  to  build  a  new 
church  in  a  more  convenient  location.  He  ob- 
tained the  estate  of  Dunnottar  from  Lord 
Lindsay  of  the  Byres  in  exchange  for  Struth- 
ers  in  Fifeshire,  about  1390,  and  these  two 
events  serve  to  fix  the  date  of  the  first  build- 
ing at  Dunnottar. 

The  path  to  the  castle  descends  the  steep 
cliffs  of  the  mainland,  and  passes  under  de- 
fensive outworks  on  an  outlying  spur  called 
the  Fiddlehead.  A  flight  of  steps  leads  up  to 
the  base  of  a  thirty-five-foot  wall  which  fills 
a  cleft  in  the  rock,  and  is  pierced  by  a  narrow 
gateway,  the  only  entrance  to  the  castle.  Be- 
hind the  arch  is  a  portcullis  and  a  further 
flight  of  steps  with  five  embrasures  for  guns 
at  the  top.  At  the  top  of  the  steps  the  road- 
way turns  to  the  left  and  ascends  twenty-nine 
feet.  It  then  turns  again  at  right  angles  to 
the  right.  Twenty-nine  feet  further  on  is  a 
strong  door,  then  a  tunnel  twenty-six  feet  long 


112    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


with  another  door  at  the  further  end,  and  more 
open  roadway.  Another  tunnel  of  the  same 
length  is  also  defended  by  doors  at  each  end, 
beyond  which  the  top  of  the  rock  is  reached. 
All  the  open  passages  are  commanded  by 
buildings  on  both  sides  and  high  rock  slopes, 
so  that  the  passage  is  as  impregnable  as  could 
be  imagined. 

The  oldest  part  of  the  buildings  on  the  plat- 
form is  the  keep,  of  the  first  part  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  at  the  southwest  corner.  It  is 
L-shaped,  and  four  stories  high.  The  internal 
arrangements  are  similar  to  other  keeps  of  the 
period.  The  parapet  is  carried  on  corbels  and 
machicolated.  To  the  east  of  the  keep  are 
storerooms  and  stables,  built  at  a  later  date, 
when  the  keep  became  too  small.  Near  these 
buildings  is  a  sixteenth  century  structure  con- 
taining a  hall  and  private  apartments,  and 
called  the  Priest's  House.  The  increasing 
wealth  of  the  family  caused  the  erection  late 
in  the  sixteenth  and  early  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  of  the  very  extensive  quadrangle  at 
the  northeastern  corner  of  the  rock.  This 
contained  all  the  apartments  necessary  for  a 
very  large  establishment  conducted  on  the 
most  sumptuous  lines. 

In  1297  four  thousand  Englishmen  retired 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  113 


into  Dunnottar  Castle  to  escape  from  Sir 
William  Wallace.  He  scaled  the  crag  and 
entered  by  a  window,  opened  the  gates,  and 
let  in  his  troops,  who  slaughtered  the  garrison 
to  the  last  man.  In  1336  Edward  III  refor- 
tified  Dunnottar  during  his  progress  through 
Scotland,  but  it  was  retaken  by  Sir  Andrew 
Moray  as  soon  as  he  left  the  kingdom.  It 
later  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Keiths, 
Earls  Marischal,  and  had  an  uneventful 
history  until  the  civil  war.  It  was  then  be- 
sieged by  the  Marquis  of  Montrose,  the  Earl 
Marischal  being  a  Covenanter,  and  having 
given  refuge  to  sixteen  covenanting  clergy- 
men. The  Earl  rejected  Montrose's  terms  of 
surrender,  and  in  consequence  saw  all  his  prop- 
erties on  the  mainland  burnt  and  wasted.  As 
the  smoke  rolled  up  in  clouds,  he  deeply  re- 
gretted his  resolution,  "  but  the  famous  An- 
drew Cant,  who  was  among  the  number  of 
his  ghostly  company,  edified  his  resolution  at 
once  to  its  original  pitch  of  firmness,  by  assur- 
ing him  that  that  reek  would  be  a  sweet-smell- 
ing incense  in  the  nostrils  of  the  Lord,  rising 
as  it  did  from  property  which  had  been  sacri- 
ficed to  the  holy  cause  of  the  Covenant." 

During  the  Commonwealth,  Dunnottar  Cas- 
tle was  selected,  as  the  strongest  fortress  in  the 


114    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


kingdom,  as  a  place  of  deposit  for  the  Regalia 
of  Scotland.  They  were  deposited  here  by 
order  of  the  privy  council,  and  the  Earl 
Marischal  was  furnished  with  a  garrison,  am- 
munition and  provisions.  As  the  English 
were  extremely  anxious  to  get  possession  of 
the  insignia.  General  Lambert  blockaded  the 
fortress  in  1652.  When  it  became  evident  that 
the  castle  must  finally  surrender,  the  Dowager 
Countess  Marischal  devised  a  stratagem  by 
which  the  jewels  were  saved.  Mrs.  Granger, 
wife  of  the  minister  of  Kinneff,  with  her  maid, 
had  been  permitted  to  visit  Mrs.  Ogilvy,  wife 
of  the  lieutenant-governor  of  the  castle. 
When  she  left,  she  carried  the  crown  packed 
among  some  clothes  which  she  carried  in  her 
lap,  and  her  maid  took  the  sword  and  sceptre 
in  a  bag  of  flax  on  her  back.  The  English 
general  was  so  far  from  suspecting  the  ruse 
that  he  assisted  the  lady  to  mount  her  horse. 
So  the  precious  insignia  came  safely  through 
the  English  lines,  and  were  buried  under  the 
pulpit  of  the  church  of  Kinneff  until  the 
Restoration  in  1660.  The  governor's  son,  the 
minister  and  his  wife  were  all  tortured  after 
the  surrender  of  the  castle,  but  the  secret  was 
not  betrayed.  All  parties  asserted  that  the 
jewels  had  been  conveyed  to  Paris  by  Sir  John 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  115 


Keith,  and  the  English  were  completely  baf- 
fled. Though  the  garrison  was  permitted  to 
march  out  with  drums  beating  and  colours 
flying,  Ogilvy  was  long  imprisoned  in  Eng- 
land for  saving  the  regalia.  He  was  eventu- 
ally made  a  baronet  by  Charles  II. 

In  1685  Dunnottar  was  used  as  a  prison 
for  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  Covenanters, 
who  were  crowded  for  a  whole  summer  into 
two  cellars,  so  closely  that  there  was  not  room 
for  them  all  to  sit  down  at  once.  They  were 
treated  with  the  most  atrocious  cruelty,  and 
many  of  them  died  of  their  sufferings. 
Twenty-five  finally  managed  to  escape,  but 
most  of  them  were  recaptured,  and  tortured 
by  inserting  burning  slowmatches  between 
their  fingers,  and  in  other  diabolical  ways. 
After  being  confined  here  from  May  until 
September,  they  were  sold  as  slaves  to  Scott 
of  Pitlochy  and  embarked  for  New  Jersey. 
Most  of  them  died  of  fever  on  the  voyage,  as 
well  as  their  owner  and  his  wife. 


Crathes  Castle 

Crathes  Castle,  a  picturesque  and  well-pre- 
served L-keep  of  the  fourth  period,  stands  in 
fine  woods  on  high  ground  on  the  north  side 


116    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  the  river  Dee,  in  the  town  of  Banchory.  It 
is  owned  and  occupied  by  the  Burnetts  of 


Plan  of  Crathes  Castle 


Lys,  proprietors  of  the  estate  since  the  days 
of  Robert  Bruce.  It  is  a  large  and  ample 
keep,  and  the  staircase  tower  almost  fills  the 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  117 


angle  of  the  L.  The  basement  is  vaulted  and 
contains  the  kitchen  and  offices.  The  upper 
floors  contain  a  hall  and  a  large  number  of 
bedrooms.  On  the  top  floor  is  a  large  gallery 
with  a  finely  panelled  oak  roof. 

The  great  beauty  of  the  house  is  the  remark- 
able assemblage  of  corbelled  and  gargoyled 
turrets,  dormer  windows,  and  gables  into 
which  the  upper  stories  burgeon  out.  The 
lower  part  has  the  characteristic  plain  walls 
of  Scotch  castles,  with  rounded  corners, 

Edzell  Castle 

About  a  mile  to  the  westward  of  the  pleas- 
ant town  of  Edzell,  where  the  plains  of  For- 
farshire end  at  the  base  of  the  lower  range 
of  the  Grampians,  stands  in  solemn  if  ruinous 
majesty  the  imposing  bulk  of  Edzell  Castle. 
This  was  the  most  magnificent  baronial  resi- 
dence in  the  shires  of  Angus  and  Mearns,  and 
is  rivalled  only  by  Dunnottar  in  extent.  For 
luxury  it  has  no  peer  in  this  region.  The 
castle  consists  of  an  original  fifteenth  century 
keep  which  was  extended  in  the  following  cen- 
tury into  a  castle  built  around  a  quadrangle. 
At  the  same  time  it  was  adorned  with  a  large 
and  elegant  garden  surrounded  by  a  remark- 


118    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


able  wall,  to  which  were  attached  a  summer 
house  and  a  bath  house. 

The  keep  is  called  the  Stirling  Tower,  after 
the  family  from  which  the  estate  descended  to 
the  Lindsays  by  marriage  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  It  is  built  on  the  usual  plan,  with 
two  vaulted  stories.  The  upper  floors  are 
gone,  and  the  battlements  can  no  longer  be 
reached.  Externally  this  tower  is  remarkable 
for  a  double  row  of  corbels  arranged  in  check- 
erboard fashion  below  the  parapets.  The 
upper  ones  alone  support  the  projecting  parts 
above,  the  lower  row  being  merely  ornamental. 
This  form  of  decoration  came  into  vogue  in 
the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  at 
which  time  the  keep  was  constructed. 

About  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the 
ninth  Earl  of  Crawford  built  to  the  north  of 
the  keep  a  very  extensive  quadrangle.  The 
buildings  on  the  west  and  north  sides  still 
stand,  though  the  northern  ones  are  very  ruin- 
ous; those  on  the  east  and  south  are  entirely 
removed,  leaving  only  the  outer  wall.  The 
only  feature  worthy  of  remark  in  the  quad- 
rangle is  the  kitchen  fireplace,  which  attains 
the  enormous  dimensions  of  twenty -three  feet 
by  ten.  The  great  hall  was  of  fair  size,  fifty 
feet  by  twenty-four  feet. 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  119 


On  the  south  of  the  quadrangle  is  the  gar- 
den. While  of  course  the  flowers  and  fruit 
are  long  vanished,  the  fine  architecture  is  well 
preserved.  The  space  is  covered  with  smooth 
and  even  turf,  and  the  walls  are  overhung  by 
noble  trees  which  stand  without,  so  that  the 
scene  is  one  of  peaceful  beauty.  The  walls 
enclose  a  space  one  hundred  and  seventy-three 
feet  long  and  one  hundred  and  twenty-four 
feet  wide,  and  are  elaborately  decorated  on 
three  sides.  They  are  divided  into  panels, 
which  contain  recesses  for  flowers  cut  out 
checkerwise.  Above  these  are  stars  pierced 
with  loopholes  for  musketry.  Above  them  are 
recesses  for  busts.  Alternately  with  these 
groups  are  single  large  openings  above  which 
are  carved  bas-reliefs.  These  represent  the 
Celestial  Deities,  the  Sciences  and  the  Virtues, 
and  are  well  preserved,  though  somewhat  de- 
based in  style.  The  summer  house,  which  is 
very  picturesque,  contains  several  volumes  of 
autographs  of  visitors,  but  they  apparently 
became  so  numerous  that  the  supply  of  books 
was  exhausted  some  years  since. 

Edzell  Castle,  like  many  others  in  Scotland, 
boasts  of  a  visit  from  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots, 
in  August,  1562,  while  on  her  northern  ex- 
pedition to  quell  the  Huntly  Rebellion.  On 


120    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


her  return,  accompanied  by  Lords  Moray, 
Maitland  and  Lindsay  (the  last  of  whom 
afterwards  compelled  her  to  abdicate  at  Loch- 
leven  Castle),  she  held  a  Council  at  Edzell 
and  there  passed  the  night.  Most  unaccount- 
ably, tradition  has  failed  to  immortalize  the 
room  in  which  she  slept. 

History  the  castle  most  signally  fails  to 
have.  The  Lindsays  were  a  warlike  race,  but 
their  castle  was  far  removed  from  danger  of 
foreign  invasion,  and  not  until  the  civil  wars 
were  hostile  forces  seen  without  its  walls. 
Strength  indeed  it  needed,  for  the  Caterans 
were  wont  to  issue  forth  from  the  Grampians, 
and  the  lairds  were  ever  alert  to  protect  the 
plains  of  Forfarshire  from  the  raiding  bands. 
For  this  purpose  they  kept  up  to  the  last  of 
their  prosperity  a  feudal  militia.  "  They  were 
remarkable,"  says  a  traveller,  "for  being  chief 
over  a  numerous  set  of  small  tenants,  and 
kept  up  to  the  last  the  parade  of  being  at- 
tended to  church  by  a  band  of  armed  men, 
who  served  without  pay  or  maintenance,  such 
duties  being  then  esteemed  honourable." 

They  were  most  liberal  lords  to  the  poor, 
and  from  the  magnificent  style  in  which  hos- 
pitality was  dispensed  at  the  castle,  it  was 
called  "  The  Kitchen  of  Angus."    Oxen  were 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  121 


roasted  whole,  a  feat  easily  accomplished  in 
the  enormous  fireplace  already  mentioned,  and 
all  other  foods  were  prepared  in  correspond- 
ingly liberal  quantities.  Each  day,  after  the 
family  dinner  was  over,  the  parish  poor  gath- 
ered in  the  courtyard,  sitting  on  the  stone 
benches  which  still  remain  outside  the  en- 
trance door.  Here  they  were  served  with  their 
allowance  of  meat  from  the  hands  of  the  lady 
or  daughters  of  "  the  proud  house  of  Edzell." 

The  lairds  of  Edzell  were  sheriffs  in  their 
own  domain,  and  had  the  power  of  pit  and 
gallows.  Consequently  they  possessed  a  he- 
reditary doomster,  the  head  of  the  family  of 
Durie,  who  held  Duriehill  on  this  tenure. 
Besides  the  estate,  the  executioner  was  vested 
with  the  privilege  "  of  fishing  in  the  almost 
waterless  burn  of  Wishop,  and  of  hunting  on 
the  hill  of  Wirren  with  a  hawk  blind  of  an 
eye  and  a  hound  crippled  of  a  leg  !  "  Besides, 
he  received  four  pennies  Scots  for  ringing  the 
bell  of  St.  Lawrence  at  the  birth  or  funeral  of 
a  lord  or  lady  of  Edzell. 

The  ruin  of  the  family  came  with  the  fall 
of  the  Stuarts,  and  the  castle  was  deserted  by 
them  in  1715.  Its  destruction  was  accom- 
plished in  1746,  when  three  hundred  Argyle 
Highlanders  were  stationed  in  the  castle  to 


122    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


hunt  down  the  Jacobites,  and  pillaged  and 
despoiled  their  quarters. 

The  end  of  the  family  is  pathetically  told 
by  Lord  Lindsay,  in  his  "  Lives  of  the  Lind- 
says : "  — 

"  The  Laird,  like  his  father,  had  been  a  wild 
and  wasteful  man,  and  had  been  long  awa'; 
being  engaged  with  the  unsuccessful  party  of 
the  Stuarts.  One  afternoon  the  poor  Baron, 
with  a  heavy  heart,  followed  by  one  of  a'  his 
company,  came  to  the  Castle,  almost  unnoticed 
by  any.  Everything  was  silent  —  he  gaed 
into  his  great  big  house,  a  solitary  man  — 
there  was  no  wife  and  no  child  to  gie  him 
welcome,  for  he  had  never  been  married.  The 
Castle  was  almost  deserted;  a  few  old  serv- 
ants had  been  the  only  inhabitants  for  many 
months.  The  broken-hearted  ruined  man  sat 
all  night  in  the  large  hall,  sadly  occupied  — 
destroying  papers  sometimes,  sometimes  writ- 
ing, sometimes  sitting  mournfully  silent  —  un- 
able to  fix  his  thoughts  on  the  present  or  to 
contemplate  the  future.  In  the  course  of  the 
following  day  he  left  the  Castle  in  the  same 
manner  in  which  he  had  come;  and,  turning 
round  to  take  a  last  look  of  the  old  towers, 
he  drew  a  last  long  sigh,  and  wept.  He  was 
never  seen  here  again." 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  123 


He  had  two  sisters.  One,  Janet,  who  had 
always  been  followed  about  the  castle  by  a 
pet  lamb,  fell  victim  to  the  seductive  words  of 
a  dashing  cavalier  and  followed  him  to  Eng- 
land, where  she  died  in  ignominy.  The  other, 
Margaret,  married  Watson  of  Aitherny,  in 
Fife.  Her  last  visit  to  the  ancestral  home  is 
thus  touchingly  described :  — 

"  Year  after  year  passed  away,  and  the 
Castle  fell  to  ruin  —  the  pleasance  became  a 
wilderness,  and  the  name  of  the  old  proprie- 
tors was  seldom  mentioned,  when  a  lady  ar- 
rived one  day  at  Edzell,  in  her  own  coach, 
and  drove  to  the  Castle.  She  was  tall  and 
beautiful,  and  dressed  in  deep  mourning. 
*  When  she  came  near  the  ancient  burying- 
place,'  says  the  same  faint  voice  of  the  past 
(tradition) ,  '  she  alighted  and  went  into  the 
chapel.  The  doors  had  been  driven  down,  the 
stone  figures  and  carved  work  was  all  broken, 
and  bones  lay  scattered  about. 

The  poor  lady  went  in  and  sat  down 
among  it  a',  and  wept  sore  at  the  ruin  of  her 
house  and  the  fate  of  her  family,  for  no  one 
doubted  of  her  being  one  of  them,  though  no 
one  knew  who  she  was  or  where  she  came 
from.  After  a  while  she  came  out,  and  was 
driven  in  a  coach  up  to  the  Castle;  she  went 


124    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


through  as  much  of  it  as  she  could,  for  stairs 
had  fallen  down  and  roofs  had  fallen  in,  — 
and  in  one  room  in  particular  she  staid  a 
long  while,  weeping  sadly.  She  said  the  place 
was  dear  to  her,  though  she  had  now  no  right 
to  it,  and  she  carried  some  of  the  earth  away 
with  her.' 

"  It  was  Margaret  of  Edzell,  the  lady  of 
Aitherny,  so  ascertained  by  an  independent 
tradition,  derived  from  a  venerable  lady  of  the 
House  of  Aitherny,  who  lived  to  a  great  age, 
and  always  spoke  of  her  with  bitterness  as  the 
proud  bird  out  of  the  eagle's  nest  who  had 
ruined  her  family.  '  She  came  once  to  my 
father's  house,'  said  she  to  my  informant, 
*  with  two  of  her  children.  She  was  on  her 
way  to  Edzell  Castle.  My  father  did  all  he 
could  to  persuade  her  from  so  waefu'  a  jour- 
ney, but  go  she  would;  and  one  morning  she 
set  off  alone,  leaving  her  children  with  us  to 
await  her  return.  She  was  a  sair  changed 
woman  when  she  came  back.  She  had  found 
everything  changed.  For  the  noise  and  mer- 
riment of  those  days,  she  found  silence  and 
sadness  —  for  the  many  going  to  and  fro, 
solitude  and  mouldering  walls  —  for  the  plen- 
tiful board  of  her  father,  his  house  only,  roof- 
less and  deserted.   When  she  looked  out  from 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  125 


the  windows,  it  was  the  same  gay  and  smiling 
landscape,  but  all  within  was  ruin  and  deso- 
lation. She  found  her  way  to  what  in  former 
days  had  been  her  own  room,  and  there,  over- 
come with  sorrow  she  sat  down  and  wept/ 
And  such  was  the  end  of  the  '  proud  house  of 
EdzelL'  " 

Auchmull  and  Invermarh  Castles 

The  Lindsays  possessed  two  other  castles, 
Auchmull  in  Edzell,  and  Invermark  in  Loch- 
lee,  a  few  miles  up  Glenesk.  In  Auchmull 
young  Lindsay  of  Edzell  took  refuge  in  1607, 
when  he  was  being  hunted  down  after  the 
murder  of  Lord  Spynie  in  the  High  Street  of 
Edinburgh.  This  castle  was  pulled  down  in 
1772  to  build  a  farmhouse,  and  only  a  few 
fragments  now  remain.  Hunted  out  of  here, 
he  retired  up  the  glen,  spending  part  of  his 
time  in  Invermark  Castle,  and  part  in  the 
heather.  On  one  occasion  he  was  surprised  in 
the  glen  by  a  band  commanded  by  his  uncle, 
the  Earl  of  Crawford,  and  was  forced  to  flee 
for  his  life.  The  pursuers  were  between  him 
and  the  hills,  and  his  only  choice  seemed  to  be 
between  capture  and  death  by  drowning  in 
the  torrent  of  the  Mark.  Nerved  to  desper- 
ation, he  made  a  mighty  leap  and  cleared  the 


126    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


terrible  chasm  at  a  place  still  known  as  the 
"  Eagle's  Loup,"  thus  gaining  refuge  and 
safety  in  his  castle. 

The  Castle  of  Invermark,  a  simple  keep 
commanding  the  entrances  of  several  glens, 
was  an  outpost  against  the  Caterans.  A  for- 
tress was  here  from  the  fourteenth  century, 
but  this  tower  was  built  at  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth.  It  is  now  a  roofless,  but  fairly 
well-preserved  ruin,  standing  in  beautiful 
scenery,  and  itself  adding  greatly  to  the  land- 
scape. Here  died  in  1558  the  ninth  Earl  of 
Crawford,  bequeathing  his  soul  "  to  the  Om- 
nipotent God,  and  the  whole  Court  of 
Heaven,"  and  his  body  to  be  buried  "  in  my 
own  aisle  within  the  Church  of  Edzell." 

The  castle  was  formerly  entered  by  a  huge 
drawbridge  which  rested  on  a  pier  of  masonry 
built  at  some  little  distance  from  the  castle, 
and  approached  by  stairs  on  either  side.  It 
is  defended  by  a  massive  iron  grate,  erected 
by  royal  permission,  and  made  of  iron  found 
in  the  neighbourhood. 

Glamis  Castle 

Glamis  Castle,  known  to  all  the  world  by 
the  connection  of  the  thane  of  that  name  with 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  127 


Shakespeare's  tragedy  of  Macbeth,  is  situated 
in  the  town  of  the  same  name.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  no  part  of  the  existing  struc- 
ture goes  back  to  the  shadowy  times  of  King 
Duncan,  nor  indeed  farther  than  the  fifteenth 
century.  The  central  portion  of  Glamis  Cas- 
tle is  an  L -shaped  keep,  with  walls  more  than 
ten  feet  thick.  With  its  multitude  of  turrets 
and  pinnacles,  it  makes  a  most  attractive  spec- 
tacle, but  the  beauty  of  the  castle  is  much 
diminished  by  the  miserable  horizontal  Gothic 
battlements  affixed  to  the  roofs  of  the  lower 
portions.  The  central  tower,  together  with  the 
views  of  Crathes  and  Fyvie,  will  give  an 
excellent  idea  of  Scotch  castellated  architec- 
ture at  the  height  of  its  development.  It  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  describe  the  internal 
arrangements,  as  the  castle  is  not  accessible  to 
visitors.  It  has  been  often  described  by  the 
older  writers,  who  are  enthusiastic  about  its 
beauties.  It  is  said  that  the  son  of  James 
VII,  when  he  returned  to  Scotland  in  1715, 
lodged  for  a  night  at  Glamis,  and  said  that 
there  was  no  castle  on  the  continent  to  com- 
pare with  it. 

Glamis  was  the  residence  of  Malcolm  II, 
and  here  he  was  slain  in  the  year  1031.  His 
murderers  fled  across  an  unfamiliar  country 


128    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


by  night,  and  everything  being  covered  with  a 
layer  of  snow,  they  happened  upon  the  thin 
ice  of  the  frozen  Loch  of  Forfar,  broke 
through,  and  perished. 

The  Bonnie  House  o'  Airlie 

Airlie  Castle,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Ogil- 
vies,  Earls  of  Airlie,  is  five  miles  northeast  of 
Alyth,  on  a  rocky  promontory  at  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Melgum  and  the  Isla.  The 
grounds  are  open  to  visitors  on  Tuesdays  and 
Saturdays.  "  It  possessed  great  strength  of 
both  position  and  masonry,  and  ranked  as 
one  of  the  proudest  and  most  massive  for- 
tresses in  Central  Scotland;  and  previous  to 
the  introduction  of  artillery,  it  must  have  been 
almost  if  not  entirely  impregnable.  It  had 
the  form  of  an  oblong  quadrangle;  and  occu- 
pied the  whole  summit  of  the  promontory, 
with  the  exception  of  a  small  space  at  the  ex- 
tremity, which  is  traditionally  said  to  have 
been  used  for  exercising  the  horses.  The  wall 
which  protected  it  on  the  eastern  and  most 
accessible  side  —  high  and  massive,  together 
with  the  portcullis  entry  —  still  remains  in 
connection  with  the  modern  mansion  of  Airlie; 
and  the  fosse  also  continues  distinct,  but  has 


The  Southeastern  Highlands  129 


been  partially  filled  up,  in  order  to  render  the 
place  accessible  to  carriages.  In  July,  1640, 
the  Earl  of  Argyle,  acting  secretly  upon  the 
personal  resentment  which  he  had  all  his  life 
entertained  against  the  Ogilvies,  but  overtly 
upon  an  express  commission  given  him  for 
the  public  service  by  the  Committee  of  Es- 
tates, raised  a  body  of  five  thousand  men  of 
his  own  clan,  and  led  them  across  the  Gram- 
pians and  down  Strathtay  to  devastate  the 
territories  of  the  Earl  of  Airlie.  He  is  said 
by  an  old  tradition  to  have  halted  them  for  the 
night  on  the  haughs  at  the  village  of  Rattray; 
and,  in  accordance  with  this,  though  most 
diminishingly  out  of  reckoning  with  regard 
to  the  numbers,  the  old  ballad  says :  — 

"  'Argyle  has  raised  a  hunder  men, 
A  hunder  men  and  mairly, 
And  he's  awa  doun  by  the  back  o'  Dnnkeld, 
To  plunder  the  bonnie  house  o'  Airlie.' 

The  Earl  of  Airlie  at  the  time  was  absent  in 
England,  whither  he  had  gone  as  much  to 
avoid  the  necessity  of  subscribing  to  the  Cove- 
nant, as  to  render  immediate  service  to  the 
king's  cause.  Lord  Ogilvie,  the  Earl's  eldest 
son,  held  the  charge  of  Airlie  Castle,  and  had 
recently  maintained  it  against  the  assault  of 


130    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


a  party  under  the  Earl  of  Montrose;  but,  on 
the  approach  of  Argyle's  army,  he  regarded 
all  idea  of  resisting  them  as  hopeless,  and 
hastily  abandoned  the  castle  and  fled.  Ar- 
gyle's men  plundered  the  place  of  everything 
which  they  coveted  and  could  carry  away,  and 
then  proceeded  to  damage  the  castle  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power  by  dilapidation  and  fire ; 
and  Argyle  himself  acted  so  earnest  a  part 
in  the  demolition,  that,  according  to  the  report 
of  the  historian  Gordon,  *  he  was  seen  taking 
a  hammer  in  his  hand,  and  knocking  down  the 
hewed  work  of  the  doors  and  windows  till  he 
did  sweat  for  heat  at  his  work.'  "  The  modern 
house  of  Airlie  incorporates  only  a  single  wall 
of  the  ancient  castle. 


CHAPTER  VII 


THE  SHIRES  OF  STIRLING  AND  PERTH 

Stirling  Castle 

The  Castle  of  Stirling  stands  upon  one  of 

those  isolated  outpourings  of  trappean  rock 

which  have  made  so  much  history  for  Scotland 

by  their  excellence  as  sites  for  fortifications. 

Like  Dumbarton  and  Edinburgh  Castles,  it 

has  in  all  ages  commanded  the  low  country  at 

its  base,  and  been  one  of  the  great  fortresses 

on  which  the  safety  of  the  kingdom  depended. 

Even  more  than  either  of  the  others,  Stirling 

has  been  the  key  of  Scotland.     It  stands 

athwart  the  natural  road  from  the  Highlands 

to  the  Lowlands,  and  under  its  walls  has  ever 

passed  all  the  traffic  between  north  and  south. 

It  commands  the  windings  of  the  Forth,  and 

under  it  stood  for  centuries  the  only  bridge 

across  the  river.    Below  Stirling,  until  within 

recent  times,  there  were  no  ferries  across  the 

river;  above,  though  fords  may  be  found,  they 

are  in  a  mountainous  arid  difficult  country,  im- 

181 


132    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


practicable  for  ordinary  travel,  and  also  far 
out  of  the  usual  road  of  those  who  would  fare 
between  north  and  south  Scotland.  Conse- 
quently Stirling  was,  during  the  greater  por- 
tion of  Scotland's  history,  the  key  to  the  High- 
lands, and  its  possession,  carrying  with  it  the 
control  of  the  passages  of  the  river,  was  indis- 
pensable to  him  who  would  have  the  mastery 
of  the  kingdom.  It  was  naturally  a  strong 
place,  rising  precipitously  two  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  from  the  level  plain  of  the  Forth, 
and  its  natural  defences  were  augmented  on 
every  side  by  artificial  strengths  of  ditch  and 
wall. 

The  Castlehill  of  Stirling  is  strikingly  simi- 
lar in  external  aspect  to  the  Acropolis  of 
Athens,  and  the  Castlehill  of  Edinburgh,  to 
the  latter  of  which  it  is  in  every  respect  geo- 
logically similar.  It  rises  in  a  moderate  slope 
from  southeast  to  northwest,  ending  in  a  tre- 
mendous and  abrupt  precipice.  The  ancient 
town  clustered  along  the  two  or  three  streets 
which  follow  the  backbone  of  the  hill,  and  open 
into  the  esplanade  which  lies  before  the  castle. 
From  the  upper  end  of  this  we  enter  the  struc- 
ture by  the  drawbridge,  passing  through  a 
double  gate,  formerly  defended  by  portcullis 
and  double  ditch.   This  portion  of  the  defences 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  133 


is  comparatively  modem,  dating  only  from 
Queen  Anne's  time.  The  eastern  battery, 
commanding  the  Forth  Bridge,  was  erected  by 
Mary  of  Lorraine  and  is  called  the  French 
Battery,  because  built  by  French  engineers. 
The  only  similar  one  in  Scotland  is  at  Ber- 
wick-on-Tweed. 

Before  us  is  now  the  earlier  entrance  gate- 
way, flanked  by  two  round  towers,  which  dates 
from  the  time  of  James  III.  Passing  this  we 
find  ourselves  in  the  outer  courtyard.  To  the 
right  is  the  palace,  curiously  adorned  on  the 
outside  with  rude  statues  and  gargoyles. 
These  are  the  earliest  Renaissance  sculptures 
in  Scotland,  done  by  French  sculptors  brought 
over  by  James  V  after  his  residence  and  mar- 
riage in  France.  The  architecture  is  a  curious 
medley  of  Gothic  and  Renaissance.  The  fig- 
ures on  the  east  side  represent  deities  and 
mythological  personages,  those  on  the  south 
side  are  soldiers,  while  the  northern  ones  are 
perhaps  the  most  interesting,  including  statues 
of  James  V  and  his  daughter  Mary,  and  Cleo- 
patra with  the  asp.  This  palace  was  begun 
by  James  V  and  completed  by  his  daughter, 
though  it  was  never  made  as  large  as  was 
planned,  by  reason  of  the  western  tier  of 
rooms  not  having  been  added,  though  a  corri- 


134    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


dor  exists  from  which  they  were  to  have  been 
entered.  Within  the  block  is  a  courtyard 
called  the  Lions'  Den,  because  James  IV  is 
said  to  have  kept  his  lions  here.  The  square 
tower  on  the  southwest  is  much  older  than  the 
palace,  being  a  guard  tower  of  the  original 
wall.  The  palace  is  now  occupied  for  military 
purposes,  and  inaccessible  to  visitors. 

Passing  imder  an  arch  at  the  north  end,  we 
enter  the  inner  court.  On  the  east  is  the  Par- 
liament Hall,  pure  late  Gothic,  and  older  than 
the  palace  or  any  of  the  buildings  of  the  inner 
court.  This  was  probably  built  by  James  III. 
It  contains  what  was  originally  a  noble  hall 
with  timbered  roof,  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  long.  It  has  now  been  cut  up  into 
numerous  floors  and  apartments,  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  a  barracks.  On  the  north  side  is 
the  Chapel  Royal,  built  on  the  site  of  an  earlier 
collegiate  chm^ch  by  James  VI  for  the  bap- 
tism of  his  son,  Prince  Henry.  It  is  now 
sadly  mutilated  by  internal  changes.  Part  of 
it  is  used  as  an  armoury.  The  buildings  on 
the  west  are  modern,  but  occupy  the  site  of  the 
earliest  royal  residence,  that  of  James  II,  and 
perhaps  contain  some  of  the  original  walls. 
One  of  the  rooms,  the  principal  one  in  the 
castle  which  may  be  seen  by  visitors,  is  called 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  135 


the  Douglas  Room,  and  is  popularly  supposed 
to  be  the  identical  chamber  where  James  II 
assassinated  the  Earl  of  Douglas.  This 
haughty  nobleman,  then  in  league  with  the 
Earls  of  Ross  and  Crawford,  was  induced  in 
1452,  by  promises  of  safe-conduct,  to  enter  the 
castle  and  take  supper  with  the  king.  After 
the  meal  the  king  took  him  aside  and  urged 
him  to  withdraw  from  the  league.  His  un- 
compromising refusal  so  angered  the  king  that 
he  immediately  drew  his  dagger  and  plunged 
it  into  the  Earl's  heart.  The  poet  thus  pic- 
tures the  Douglas's  refusal: 

^  No,  by  the  cross  it  may  not  be ; 

I've  pledged  my  knightly  word/ 
And  like  a  thunder-cloud  he  scowled, 

And  half  unsheathed  his  sword. 
Then  drew  the  king  that  jewelled  glaive, 

Which  gore  so  oft  had  spilt 
And  in  the  haughty  Douglas'  heart 

He  sheathed  it  to  the  hilt." 

The  Douglas  Room  contains  a  miscellaneous 
assortment  of  relics,  of  more  curiosity  than 
value.  The  visit  is  apt  to  be  disappointing,  as 
the  room  was  devastated  by  fire  a  few  years 
ago,  and  the  panelling  is  mostly  modern. 

What  will  well  repay  the  most  hardened 


136    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


sightseer,  however,  is  to  dimb  to  the  battle- 
ments at  the  eastern  side  of  the  Douglas  gar- 
den, and  slowly  survey  the  view  from  their 
whole  length.  There  is  no  fairer  prospect  in 
the  whole  of  Scotland,  and  I  know  of  but 
three  or  four  in  Europe  which  in  my  opinion 
can  equal  it,  —  the  Bosphorus  from  the  Galata 
Tower  at  Constantinople,  the  plain  of  Attica 
from  Lycabettos,  the  east  coast  of  Sicily  from 
Taormina. 

The  foreground  of  the  view  from  Stirling 
Castle  is  everywhere  formed  by  the  rich  allu- 
vial plain,  abundantly  fertile,  and  sprinkled 
with  village,  wood  and  farm.  Its  monotony 
is  broken  at  short  distances  by  half  a  dozen 
bold  masses  of  trap  rock,  well  disposed  to 
adorn  the  landscape.  Not  too  far  away  for 
good  scenic  effect,  on  the  north  and  south  re- 
spectively, rise  the  green  and  softly  rounded 
slopes  of  the  Lennox  and  Ochil  hills.  To  the 
east  curve  interminably  the  famous  windings 
of  the  Forth,  leading  the  eye  gradually  to  the 
blue  firth  and  the  distant  Lothians,  dominated 
by  Arthur's  Seat.  On  the  northwest  and  the 
west  our  eye  ranges  over  the  valleys  of  the 
Allan,  the  Teith  and  the  Forth,  above  which 
rise  the  distant  peaks  of  the  southern  High- 
lands.   The  eye  never  tires  of  gazing  at  this 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  137 


diversified  loveliness,  and  it  has  called  forth 
the  admiration  of  more  than  one  author. 
"  Who,"  says  Macculloch,  "  does  not  know 
Stirling's  noble  rock,  rising  the  monarch  of 
the  landscape,  its  majestic  and  picturesque 
towers,  its  amphitheatre  of  mountain,  and  the 
windings  of  its  marvellous  river;  and  who  that 
has  once  seen  the  sun  descending  here  in  all 
the  blaze  of  its  beauty  beyond  the  purple  hills 
of  the  west,  can  ever  forget  the  plain  of  Stir- 
ling, the  endless  charm  of  this  wonderful 
scene,  the  wealth,  the  splendour,  the  variety, 
the  majesty,  of  all  which  here  lies  between 
earth  and  heaven? " 

For  a  while  withdrawing  our  gaze  from  the 
distant  landscape,  we  shall  find  in  nearer  ob- 
jects much  to  interest  us.  To  the  east  lies  a 
rocky  mass,  called  Gowlan  Hill,  now  partly 
occupied  by  cemeteries.  Here  were  formerly 
to  be  seen  the  ramparts  thrown  up  by  Prince 
Charles  Edward  in  1746,  when  he  besieged 
the  castle.  This  low  ridge  stretches  away  to 
the  north,  where  it  ends  near  the  bridge  in  the 
Moat  Hill,  the  feudal  place  of  justice,  where 
executions  formerly  took  place.  On  this  hill, 
in  sight  of  the  towers  of  their  own  castle  of 
Doune,  and  their  own  fair  hills  and  farms,  died 
by  the  axe  in  1425  Duncan,  the  old  Earl  of 


138    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Lennox,  his  son-in-law,  the  Regent  Murdoch, 
Duke  of  Albany,  and  Walter  and  Alexander 
Stuart,  the  latter's  sons.  At  an  earlier  date 
Sir  Robert  Graham  and  his  associates  were 
executed  here  for  the  murder  of  James  I. 
The  popular  name  of  this  mount  is  Hurley- 
Haaky  {haaky  being  an  old  Scotch  word  for 
cow,  and  hurley  the  amusement  of  coasting), 
because  James  V  used  to  coast  down  the  steep 
slope  on  a  cow's  skull. 

Between  these  hills  and  the  ramparts  of  the 
castle  a  steep  road  or  pass  comes  up  from  the 
houses  below,  and  leads  to  a  point  where 
formerly  was  a  large  gateway  in  the  castle 
wall.  Opposite  this  in  the  inner  wall  is  a  low- 
arched  sallyport,  known  as  the  "  Laird  of 
Ballangleich's  entry,"  and  said  to  have  once 
been  the  main  entrance  of  the  castle.  This 
path  was  anciently  of  much  importance  and 
was  known  as  the  road  of  Ballangleich,  mean- 
ing the  windy  pass,  a  name  which  is  still  abun- 
dantly justified.  This  name  furnished  an  in- 
cognito to  James  V  who,  as  the  Laird  of  Bal- 
langleich, was  wont  to  make  many  a  surrep- 
titious excursion  on  errands  of  gallantry  or 
curiosity  which  frequently  led  him  to  adven- 
tures similar  to  those  of  Haroun  al  Raschid. 

Passing  to  the  other  side  of  the  ramparts. 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  139 


we  may  note,  carved  in  the  stone,  the  initials 
M.  R.,  Mary  Regina.  The  place  is  known  as 
Queen  Mary's  Lookout,  and  verily  she  could 
have  found  no  better  spot  from  which  to  sur- 
vey the  beauties  of  her  kingdom. 

In  the  valley  below  lies  what  was  formerly 
known  as  the  King's  Park,  and  long  stretches 
of  its  enclosing  wall  still  exist.  It  was  for- 
merly wooded  and  full  of  deer  kept  for  the 
royal  hunts.  At  the  east  end  were  the  royal 
gardens.  Though  the  flower  beds  and  fruit 
trees  have  long  since  disappeared,  the  terraces 
and  mounds  on  which  they  stood  are  clearly 
visible.  In  the  centre  of  these  paths  and 
mounds  rises  an  octagonal  mound  of  some 
size,  flat  on  top,  known  as  the  King's  Knot. 
This  is  of  great  antiquity,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  the  scene  of  court  festivities  of  various 
kinds.  Presumably  it  was  a  place  for  knightly 
reunions,  for  it  was  called  the  Round  Table 
as  early  as  the  time  of  Bannockburn,  when 
Edward  of  England  was  told  by  Moubray, 
the  governor,  not  to  expect  safety  by  being 
admitted  to  the  castle,  and  so  "  took  the  way 
beneath  the  castle  by  the  Round  table." 

Like  Edinburgh  and  Dumbarton,  Stirling 
Castle  Rock  has  been  a  fortress  since  times  so 
ancient  that  its  founders  are  forgotten.  The 


140    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Romans  recognized  its  strength,  and  Agricola 
placed  a  garrison  here,  while  his  successors 
found  it  very  useful  in  overawing  the  northern 
tribes.  The  Roman  military  road  from  south 
to  north  passed  through  here,  and  persisted 
much  longer  than  their  dominion.  After 
Roman  times,  Stirling  was  a  prize  to  be  con- 
tended for  by  belligerent  tribes.  In  the  ninth 
century,  the  Northumbrians  added  much  of 
the  territory  of  Scotland  to  their  own,  either 
by  conquest  or  treaty,  and  Stirling  was  in- 
cluded. They  rebuilt  the  castle,  and  under 
protection  of  its  garrison,  bridged  the  Forth 
with  a  stone  structure  which  was  adorned  with 
a  cross  and  the  motto,  part  of  which  is  borne 
on  the  ancient  seal  of  the  burgh,  — 

"  Anglos  a  Scotis  separat  crux  ista  remotis. 
Hie  armis  Bruti :  Scoti  stant  hie  cruce  tuti.^' 

The  castle  at  this  remote  period,  however,  was 
probably  nothing  but  a  rude  and  small  tower, 
and  as  such  it  appears  in  the  seal  of  the  burgh. 
Even  if  the  Scots  did  temporarily  lose  pos- 
session of  the  hill,  they  soon  regained  it  again, 
and  made  common  cause  with  the  Saxons 
against  the  Danes. 

In  the  tenth  century,  learning  of  a  Danish 
invasion,   Kenneth   III    appointed  Stirling 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  141 


Castle  as  a  place  of  rendezvous  for  his  barons, 
and  marched  from  it  to  the  victorious  field  of 
Luncarty.  Two  centuries  later  William  the 
Lion  was  captured  by  the  English  during  an 
unsuccessful  expedition  across  the  border,  and 
to  secure  the  ransom  which  was  promised  for 
his  deliverance,  the  four  principal  fortresses 
of  the  kingdom,  Stirling,  Edinburgh,  Rox- 
burgh and  Berwick,  were  impignorated  to 
the  English.  This  was  the  first  time  English 
troops  held  any  important  part  of  Scotch  ter- 
ritory, and  occurred  during  the  reign  of 
Henry  11.  His  son,  the  generous  Richard 
Cceur  de  Lion,  freely  forgave,  at  his  acces- 
sion, the  unpaid  instalments  of  the  ransom, 
withdrew  his  troops  from  Scotch  soil,  and  re- 
nounced all  claims  he  had  upon  the  kingdom. 
WilHam  the  Lion  afterwards  held  some  of  his 
parliaments  here,  and  here  occurred  his  death 
in  1212.  Alexander  II  here  had  enacted  sev- 
eral important  statutes,  notably  that  estab- 
lishing trial  by  jury.  John  Baliol  also  con- 
voked parliament  in  Stirling  Castle,  and  from 
here  in  1295  wrote  to  the  King  of  France, 
asking  for  a  French  princess  to  marry  to  his 
son. 

In  1296,  when  Edward  I  overran  Scotland, 
the  garrison  of  Stirling  deserted  it  without 


142    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


offering  resistance.  The  next  year  the  Eng- 
Ush  were  repulsed  on  the  field  of  Stirling ;  the 
garrison  which  they  left  in  the  castle  speedily 
surrendered  to  Sir  William  Wallace,  who  dis- 
mantled and  destroyed  it  after  the  battle  of 
Falkirk.  Edward  II  repaired  it  and  held  it 
for  a  year,  when  the  Scots  again  captured  it. 
In  1300  Sir  WiUiam  OHphant  defended  it  for 
three  months,  but  was  finally  obliged  to  capit- 
ulate to  the  English,  who  held  it  three  years. 
Then  it  was  retaken,  and  Oliphant  again  as- 
sumed the  governorship.  He  maintained  the 
castle  against  Edward  when  all  of  Scotland 
was  at  his  feet,  and  all  the  resources  of  the 
king,  who  besieged  the  castle  in  person  for 
three  months,  seemed  inadequate  to  force  its 
surrender.  The  king  called  a  coimcil  at  St. 
Andrews  and  obliged  the  assembled  barons  of 
England  and  Scotland  to  pronounce  sentence 
of  outlawry  on  Sir  William  Wallace,  Sir 
Simon  Frazer,  and  the  garrison  of  Stirling 
Castle.  When  at  last  necessity  forced  the 
garrison  to  offer  to  capitulate,  the  king  was 
so  incensed  that  he  refused  the  offer,  and 
finally  took  the  place  by  storm.  The  garrison 
was  distributed  among  various  English  jails, 
and  the  governor  sent  to  the  Tower  of  Lon- 
don. 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  143 


For  a  long  time  the  castle  was  now  held  by 
the  English,  who  were  masters  of  most  of 
Scotland.  Though  besieged  several  times  by- 
Bruce,  it  was  not  taken  until  1339. 

When  the  Stuart  kings  succeeded  to  the 
throne,  Stirling  Castle  became  one  of  their 
favourite  places  of  residence,  and  to  them  it 
owes  its  present  form,  as  we  have  seen. 
James  II  was  born  and  brought  up  here,  and 
here  he  perpetrated  the  abominable  treachery 
of  the  murder  of  the  Earl  of  Douglas. 
James  III,  a  mild-mannered  monarch  wholly 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  turbulent  manners 
of  his  age,  here  secluded  himself  from  his 
nobles,  and  surrounded  himself  with  favourites. 
After  his  death  on  the  field  of  Sauchie,  his 
son  ascended  the  throne,  and  often  resided 
here  during  Lent  that  he  might  do  penance 
in  the  Franciscan  church  for  his  share  in  the 
death  of  his  father.  James  V  was  born  and 
crowned  in  Stirling,  and  popular  tradition  has 
made  it  the  scene  of  many  gallant  or  amusing 
adventures  of  the  "  Laird  of  Ballangleich." 

In  1543,  Queen  Mary  was  crowned  here 
when  scarcely  nine  months  old,  and  the  for- 
tress was  her  residence  for  many  years.  Her 
son  James  was  brought  hither  soon  after  his 
birth  in  Edinburgh  Castle  and  baptized  in  the 


144    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Chapel  Royal  on  December  15,  1566.  When 
Mary  was  forced  to  sign  her  resignation  of 
the  crown,  in  the  following  year,  he  was 
crowned  here,  and  spent  his  boyhood  in  the 
castle.  He  convoked  his  first  parliament  in 
the  great  hall,  which  so  incensed  his  friends 
that  it  nearly  provoked  a  civil  war.  In  spite 
of  all  opposition,  he  continued  to  live  here 
much  of  the  time. 

The  castle  was  besieged  and  taken  by  Gen- 
eral Monk  in  1651,  and  Scotland  suffered 
severe  and  irreparable  loss,  for  he  removed 
the  national  archives,  which  were  here  for  safe 
keeping,  to  the  Tower  of  London.  There  they 
remained  for  years,  and  when  they  were 
shipped  back  by  sea,  a  storm  overwhelmed  the 
vessel  which  was  carrying  them,  and  they 
were  for  ever  lost.  The  castle  played  a  part 
in  1689,  and  1715,  and  was  besieged  in  1746 
by  Charles  Edward,  who  might  have  taken  it 
if  he  had  not  been  forced  to  retreat  by  the 
arrival  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland. 

Doune  in  Menteith 

The  Castle  of  Doune,  one  of  the  best  pre- 
served ruins  of  a  feudal  fortress  at  present  ex- 
isting in  Scotland,  stands  on  a  mound,  prob- 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  145 


ably  partly  artificial,  on  a  tongue  of  land 
between  the  rivers  Teith  and  Ardoch,  near  the 
town  of  Doune.   It  was  formerly  defended  by 


Plan  of  Doune  Castle,  Ground  Floor 


ditches,  which  can  still  be  traced,  and  by  an 
outer  wall  at  the  top  of  the  sloping  bank,  the 
foundations  of  which  still  exist. 

The  castle  has  been  recently  restored  with 
much  good  taste  and  moderation,  and  gives  at 
present  an  excellent  idea  of  its  appearance  at 


146    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


its  time  of  greatest  strength.  The  single 
blemish  on  the  work  is  the  atrocious  zinc 
structure  erected  as  a  ventilator  in  the  middle 
of  the  roof  of  the  banqueting  hall.  While  we 
may  safely  assume  that  in  so  well-built  a  castle 
as  this,  some  means  of  allowing  smoke  to  es- 
cape would  be  provided,  a  much  less  conspic- 
uous and  modern-appearing  structure  should 
have  been  placed  in  this  prominent  position. 

The  date  of  erection  of  the  castle  is  usually 
placed  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. Its  present  appearance  is  exceptionally 
homogeneous,  and  there  seems  to  be  little 
doubt  that  it  assumed  its  present  form  at  that 
time,  and  that  it  was  designed  and  built  on  a 
predetermined  plan.  As  its  builder,  Murdoch, 
Duke  of  Albany,  erected  it  during  the  years 
he  was  Regent  of  Scotland,  the  date  seems 
well  fixed.  This  nobleman's  viceroyalty  was 
terminated  in  1424,  when  James  I  returned  to 
Scotland  and  ascended  the  throne  after  his 
long  imprisonment  in  England.  The  new 
monarch  at  once  took  vengeance  on  the  un- 
faithful guardians  of  his  kingdom.  He 
quickly  took  possession  of  all  the  great  for- 
tresses of  the  kingdom,  including  Doune. 
Isabella,  Duchess  of  Albany,  was  locked  in 
her  own  dungeon  and  later  confined  at  Tan- 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  147 


tallon,  while  the  Duke  was  taken  to  Stirling. 
Here,  on  the  Heading  Hill,  in  sight  of  his 
own  proud  towers,  he  and  two  sons  were  exe- 
cuted in  the  following  year. 

While  most  of  the  present  structure  thus 
dates  from  this  period,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
there  was  a  castle  at  Doune  long  before  Mur- 
doch's time.  The  Earls  of  Menteith  probably- 
had  a  seat  here  at  least  a  century  earlier,  and 
Robert,  Murdoch's  father,  dated  several  char- 
ters from  "  the  Castell  of  Downe  in  Men- 
teyth,"  during  the  latter  half  of  the  fourteenth 
century. 

The  character  of  the  masonry  on  the  inner 
side  of  the  southwest  gable  seems  quite  differ- 
ent from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  courtyard  in 
the  lower  part  of  its  structure,  and  it  seems 
from  this,  and  a  study  of  the  plan,  that  this 
is  probably  what  remains  of  an  earlier  square 
keep.  This  keep  was  rebuilt  and  perhaps  ex- 
tended to  the  west,  during  Murdoch's  opera- 
tions. 

The  castle  is  built  on  the  courtyard  plan, 
and  contains  three  blocks  of  buildings,  the 
keep,  the  portion  containing  the  banqueting 
hall,  and  the  kitchen  block,  which  I  have  as- 
sumed to  be  the  original  keep.  It  is  evident 
that  the  plan  was  not  completely  carried  out, 


148    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


for  pointed  windows  in  the  southern  wall  were 
evidently  pierced  for  a  chapel  or  other  build- 
ing, and  projecting  tusks  in  the  southwest 
tower  show  that  this  side  was  to  have  been 
continued. 

The  keep  is  a  large  castle  in  itself,  and  was 
without  internal  communication  with  the  rest 
of  the  structure.  The  castle  entrance  is  under 
it  by  means  of  an  arched  passage  running 
through  into  the  courtyard.  This  had  an 
oaken  door,  and  an  iron  grate  which  still  re- 
mains. It  was  defended  also  by  a  portcullis, 
worked  from  a  window  embrasure  above,  and 
flanked  by  the  great  roimd  tower  of  the  north- 
east angle.  On  the  right  of  the  gate  passage 
are  the  guard  room  and  prison,  and  on  the 
left  storerooms  and  a  well  room  in  the  round 
tower. 

On  the  first  floor  is  the  great  hall,  forty- 
four  by  twenty-seven  feet  and  twenty-four 
feet  to  the  crown  of  the  vault.  It  has  been 
repanelled  and  floored  and  is  very  satisfac- 
torily restored.  This  hall  was  entered  only  by 
an  outside  stair.  Its  only  internal  communica- 
tion with  the  basement  is  by  a  hatch  in  the 
floor  beside  the  fireplace,  and  another  in  the 
adjoining  tower  room,  through  which  water 
was  obtained  from  the  well.    Over  the  gate 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  149 

passage  at  the  courtyard  end  is  a  retiring 
room,  with  a  window  overlooking  the  hall, 
which  afforded  a  view  of  all  that  went  on 


Plan  of  Doune  Castle,  First  Floor 

there.  Over  the  entrance  is  a  wide  window 
recess,  from  which  the  portcullis  was  worked. 
The  fireplace  is  remarkable;  it  is  a  double 
arch,  with  crudely  carved  shafts  and  lintels, 
and  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  a  partition  in 


150    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  centre  on  the  line  of  the  supporting 
column. 

From  the  hall  two  spiral  stairs  lead  to  the 
upper  chambers  and  the  roof.  Over  the  hall  is 
the  withdrawing  room,  which  contains  a  single 
fireplace  and  an  oratory  in  the  courtyard 
tower,  with  locker  and  piscina  still  remaining. 
The  top  story  had  a  wooden  floor,  and  this 
and  the  roof  have  been  restored.  The  rooms 
in  the  round  tower  were  all  vaulted.  The 
east  gable  of  the  keep  was  carried  up  to  form 
a  high  watch  tower  with  a  beacon. 

Adjoining  the  keep  on  the  west  is  the  ban- 
queting hall,  sixty-eight  feet  by  twenty-seven. 
A  doorway  now  joins  this  to  the  hall  of  the 
keep,  but  was  not  there  originally.  Probably 
strangers  were  rigorously  excluded  from  the 
keep,  which  was  accessible  only  to  the  family 
of  the  owner  and  his  most  trusted  domestics 
and  retainers.  The  banqueting  hall  has  been 
restored  with  an  open  timbered  roof.  In  the 
floor  are  indicated  the  positions  of  the  dais 
and  the  central  fireplace,  the  smoke  from  which 
found  its  way  out  of  the  unglazed  windows 
and  perhaps  an  opening  in  the  roof.  This 
hall  was  the  centre  of  domestic  life.  Here 
nobles,  soldiers  and  domestics  lived  and  ate, 
and  the  majority  of  them  slept.    Here  were 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  151 


brought  the  trophies  of  war  and  of  the  chase, 
and  here,  after  a  day  of  drenching  rain  or 
snow,  wet  clothes  steamed  around  a  six-foot 
pile  of  blazing  logs,  while  rusted  weapons  were 
cleaned  and  sharpened.  In  an  earlier  age, 
this  same  fire  would  have  served  for  roasting 
hunted  deer  or  stolen  cattle,  but  when  Doune 
was  built  kitchens  had  come  into  use,  and  this 
contribution  to  the  mingled  odours  of  the  hall 
was  lacking.  This  hall  was  entered  by  an 
outside  stair,  and  had  an  inside  staircase  to 
the  wine  cellar.  At  the  west  end  was  the  min- 
strel's gallery,  over  the  screens. 

The  banqueting  hall  communicates  with  the 
kitchen  through  a  serving  room,  which  has  two 
arched  openings  for  passing  in  food.  The 
kitchen  has  an  enormous  fireplace.  Over  it 
are  numerous  guest-rooms  and  apartments. 

The  courtyard  is  surrounded  by  a  wall  forty 
feet  high  with  six-foot  parapets.  It  has  open 
bartizans  at  the  corners  and  midway  of  the 
sides,  but  no  machicolations  except  over  the 
postern  gate  in  the  west  side.  The  parapets 
are  continued  entirely  around  the  castle,  over 
all  the  roofs  and  gables,  both  externally  and 
on  the  courtyard  side. 

On  the  whole  it  was  a  castle  of  great 
strength,  when  artillery  was  unknown.  The 


152    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


courtyard  wall  is  the  weakest  point,  but  this 
was  formerly  covered  by  an  outer  wall.  The 
courtyard  gained,  the  buildings  were  accessible 
only  by  steep  outside  stairs,  with  gates  at  the 
bottom.  The  keep,  the  final  stronghold,  was 
entirely  isolated,  and  even  if  entered,  was  de- 
fensible floor  by  floor,  with  means  of  escape 
either  by  a  newel  stair  to  the  top  of  the  wall, 
or  by  a  secret  passage  undergroimd  which 
opened  in  the  bed  of  the  Ardoch. 

Doune  has  been  described  at  length,  as  per- 
haps the  best  preserved  and  most  accessible 
feudal  fortress  of  great  strength  to  be  seen  in 
Scotland.  For  picturesqueness  of  situation 
and  for  completeness  of  arrangement,  it  is  well 
worthy  of  a  visit. 

Its  history  is  not  as  stirring  as  that  of  some 
other  strengths.  As  related  before,  it  was  long 
the  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Menteith.  It  came 
into  the  royal  family  by  the  marriage  of  Rob- 
ert, Duke  of  Albany,  son  of  Robert  II,  with 
Margaret,  Countess  of  Menteith,  in  the  four- 
teenth century.  Their  son  was  Murdoch,  Re- 
gent of  Scotland,  executed  by  his  cousin, 
James  I,  as  told  previously.  His  duchess, 
Isabella,  after  a  long  imprisonment  in  Tan- 
tallon,  was  allowed  to  retire  to  Inchmurran 
Castle  in  Loch  Lomond,  where  she  died  about 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  153 


1460.  Their  youngest  son,  James  Stuart, 
after  a  futile  attempt  to  resist  the  king,  fled 
to  Ireland,  and  there  founded  an  eminent 
family.  The  castle  was  confiscated,  and  he- 
came  the  dower  house  of  the  queens  consort. 
It  was  granted  in  1451  by  James  II  to  his 
queen,  Mary  of  Gueldres,  in  1491  by  James 
III  to  Margaret  of  Denmark  and  in  1503 
by  James  IV  to  Margaret  of  England.  In 
1528,  James  V,  with  his  mother's  approbation, 
granted  the  castle  to  James  Stuart,  great- 
grandson  of  Duke  Murdoch.  By  direct  de- 
scent it  is  now  property  of  the  Earl  of  Moray. 
This  grant  occasioned  the  death  of  the  gran- 
tee, for  the  custody  of  the  castle  had  been 
hereditary  with  the  family  of  Edmonstone  of 
Duntreath,  and  the  head  of  that  family  finally 
assassinated  James  Stuart. 

Another  unfortunate  owner  of  the  castle 
was  the  first  Earl  of  Moray,  James  Stuart's 
grandson,  to  whom  the  Mains  of  Doune  were 
ratified  by  the  Scots  Parliament  in  1592.  He 
was  murdered  at  Donibristle  by  his  hereditary 
enemy,  the  Earl  of  Huntly,  as  related  in  the 
melancholy  ballad,  "  The  Bonnie  Earl  of 
Moray."  His  widow  Ehzabeth,  daughter  of 
the  Regent  Moray,  is  thus  referred  to:  — 


154    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


"  0  lang,  lang  will  his  lady- 
Look  ower  the  Castle  Downe 
Ere  the  bonnie  Earle  of  Moray 
Comes  sounding  thro'  the  town." 

Queen  Mary  had,  long  before  this,  fre- 
quently resided  in  the  castle,  with  her  young 
son,  James  VI,  whose  nursery  is  still  shown 
in  the  round  tower.  It  was  here  that  he  is 
supposed  to  have  formed,  in  1580,  a  project, 
under  the  guise  of  a  hunting  party,  for  free- 
ing himself  from  the  guardianship  of  the  Earl 
of  Mar. 

Doune  Castle  was  frequently  used  as  a 
political  prison.  James  VI  often  attempted 
to  usurp  the  power  of  the  burghs  to  nominate 
their  own  rulers,  and  tried  in  1599  to  force 
the  council  of  Montrose  to  elect  the  Earl  of 
Mar  as  their  provost.  They  refused,  and  he 
summoned  before  the  Privy  Council  the  whole 
of  the  town's  officers.  Having  been  found 
guilty,  they  were  all  condemned  to  be  incar- 
cerated in  Blackness  Castle  and  in  Doune  in 
Menteith. 

In  1745,  despite  the  presence  of  the  royal 
garrison  at  Stirling,  it  was  successfully  held 
for  Prince  Charles  Edward  by  Gregor  Mac- 
gregor  of  Glengyle,  with  two  hundred  men. 
After  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  Charles  sent  his 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  155 


prisoners  here.  Among  these  was  the  poet 
John  Home,  author  of  "  Douglas,"  who  un- 
dertook and  succeeded  in  a  plan  of  escape  for 
himself  and  his  fellows.  They  twisted  their 
bedclothes  into  ropes,  and  five  of  them  had 
descended  safely  when  the  rope  broke.  The 
sixth,  Thomas  Barrow,  an  Englishman,  risked 
the  attempt,  nevertheless,  but  fell,  breaking  his 
ankle  and  several  ribs.  In  spite  of  this,  his 
friends  carried  him  off  and  made  their  escape, 
as  Home  relates  in  his  "  History  of  the  Re- 
beUion." 

Finlarig  Castle 

Finlarig  Castle,  a  mile  from  Killin,  at  the 
head  of  Loch  Tay,  was  apparently  built  in 
1609,  as  appears  from  a  dated  coat  of  arms 
over  the  entrance  door.  It  was  probably  built 
on  the  Z-plan,  but  the  northeastern  tower  is 
now  entirely  gone.  Though  this  castle  is  com- 
paratively modern,  there  is  no  doubt  that  a 
castle  has  existed  on  the  site  from  very  ancient 
times.  The  spot,  situated  between  two  rivers, 
and  protected  on  the  third  side  by  the  loch,  is 
well  adapted  for  a  fortification,  and  the  ancient 
trees  about  the  place,  together  with  the  justice 
mount  hard  by,  confirm  this  supposition.  The 


156    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


castle  has  a  small  chapel,  which  has  been  the 
burial  place  of  the  Breadalbanes  since  the  six- 
teenth century. 

Kinclaven  Castle 

The  scanty  remains  of  Kinclaven  Castle 
stand  on  the  high  right  bank  of  the  Tay,  oppo- 
site the  infall  of  the  Isla,  eight  miles  from 
Perth.  The  castle,  which  was  a  royal  resi- 
dence in  the  thirteenth  century,  consists  of  a 
large  wall  of  enceinte,  and  is  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  feet  square.  The  walls  are 
about  eight  feet  thick,  and  the  remains  are 
from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  high.  The 
gateway  is  on  the  west  side,  away  from  the 
river,  and  there  is  a  postern  on  the  south  side. 
This  was  once  guarded  by  a  tower,  and  others 
stood  at  all  four  corners,  the  narrow  entrances 
being  still  visible.  These  openings  were  only 
about  two  feet  wide,  defended  by  barred  doors. 
Two  sides  of  the  castle  were  defended  by  the 
steep  bank  sloping  down  to  the  Tay,  and  on 
the  other  sides  were  ditches,  some  traces  of 
which  still  remain. 

The  castle  was  a  royal  residence  of  Alex- 
ander III,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  Exchequer 
Rolls  of  Scotland  in  the  year  1264.    In  1297, 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  157 


according  to  Blind  Harry  the  Minstrel,  Wal- 
lace took  Kinclaven,  which  had  been  visited 
by  King  Edward  I  in  the  previous  June. 
Wallace  and  his  folk  stayed  in  the  castle  for 
seven  days,  wrecking  and  pillaging  it,  and 
leaving  it  a  desolate  ruin.  The  English  soon 
rebuilt  it,  and  it  is  enumerated  in  1335  among 
the  castles  in  the  possession  of  Edward  III. 
It  was  again  taken  by  the  Scots  in  the  follow- 
ing year.  As  it  was  never  anything  but  a 
place  of  strength,  it  seems  to  have  gone  to 
ruin  many  centuries  since. 


Huntingtower  or  Ruthven  Castle 

Huntingtower,  formerly  known  as  Ruth- 
ven Castle,  stands  above  the  river  Almond, 
about  three  miles  west  of  Perth.  It  consists 
of  a  square  three-story  keep  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  to  which  other  buildings  have  later 
been  added.  The  first  addition  consisted  of  an 
independent  tower  on  the  L-plan,  which  was 
built  alongside  the  first  building,  but  nine  feet 
away  from  it.  The  two  towers  had  no  com- 
munication except  by  a  movable  drawbridge 
between  the  ramparts.  This  seems  to  be  a 
reminiscence  of  the  ancient  method  of  building 
castles  as  a  series  of  detached  and  independent 


158    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


posts.  Huntingtower  also  shows  well  the 
transition  from  open  battlements  to  gables 
springing  from  the  top  of  the  parapets.  In 
the  sixteenth  century  the  two  houses  were 
connected  by  building  up  the  gap,  in  which  a 
staircase  was  placed.  The  first  Lord  Ruthven 
was  invested  with  the  estate  in  1488,  and  the 
second  tower  was  probably  built  by  him.  Pat- 
rick, third  Lord  Ruthven,  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal conspirators  who  assisted  at  the  murder 
of  Rizzio.  His  son,  created  Earl  of  Gowrie  in 
1581,  was  the  author  of  the  famous  "  Raid  of 
Ruthven,"  the  enticement  to  Huntingtower, 
and  imprisonment  there,  of  the  boy-king 
James  VI,  with  the  object  of  removing  him 
from  the  influence  of  his  two  early  favourites, 
the  Earl  of  Arran  and  the  Duke  of  Len- 
nox. For  this  offence  he  was  beheaded.  The 
castle  was  forfeited,  and  was  bestowed  by 
James  VI  on  the  family  of  TuUibardine,  from 
which  it  passed  by  marriage  to  the  Dukes  of 
Athole. 

The  tower  is  also  famous  for  the  legendary 
"  Maiden's  Leap,"  the  exploit  of  a  daughter 
of  the  first  Earl  of  Gowrie,  who,  in  a  fit  of 
terror,  leaped  across  the  chasm  between  the 
two  buildings,  a  distance  of  over  nine  feet, 
sixty  feet  in  the  air. 


The  Shires  of  Stirling  and  Perth  159 


Elcho  Castle 

Elcho  Castle,  belonging  to  the  Earl  of 
Wemyss,  in  whose  family  the  estate  has  been 
for  centuries,  is  situated  on  the  Tay,  a  few 
miles  below  Perth.  It  is  a  sixteenth  century 
castle,  curiously  modified  from  the  keep  plan. 
The  main  oblong  building  is  provided  with  no 
less  than  five  towers,  four  of  which  are  on  the 
northern  face.  It  has  a  number  of  corbelled 
turrets  and  gables,  but  can  scarcely  be  said  to  be 
picturesque  from  any  point  of  view.  The  south- 
west tower,  which  is  mostly  occupied  by  the 
stairway,  alone  has  battlements,  so  that  the 
castle  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  defensible.  The 
castle  has  no  history  worth  mentioning,  but  in 
the  time  of  Wallace  there  was  a  tower  called 
"Elchoch"  by  Blind  Harry,  which  often 
served  him  as  a  refuge.  This  may  have  been 
the  predecessor  of  this  one,  as  the  site  is  a 
good  one  for  a  fortification. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

FIFE  AND  VICINITY 

St  Andrews  Castle 

The  first  Castle  of  St.  Andrews  was  built 
about  1200  by  Bishop  Roger,  son  of  Robert, 
third  Earl  of  Leicester.  It  was  seized  by- 
Edward  I,  and  he  held  here  the  parliament  at 
which  the  Scottish  barons  gave  him  their 
allegiance.  It  was  again  garrisoned  by  Ed- 
ward III,  but  shortly  after  he  retired  to  Eng- 
land, Sir  Andrew  Moray,  the  Regent,  cap- 
tured it  after  a  siege  of  three  weeks,  and  en- 
tirely demolished  it.  It  was  reconstructed  by 
Bishop  Trail  about  the  end  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  At  his  death  in  1401  the  governor, 
Albany,  took  possession,  and  confined  here 
the  Duke  of  Rothesay,  heir  to  the  Crown, 
before  his  death  by  starvation  at  Falkland. 
The  strength  of  the  castle  at  this  time  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  the  revenues  of  the 
kingdom,  by  act  of  parliament,  were  kept  in 
"  a  kist  of  four  keys,"  in  the  "  Castle  of  St. 

160 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


161 


Andrews,  under  the  care  of  the  bishop  and 
prior  of  the  monastery."  James  III  was  born 
in  the  castle. 

In  the  days  of  Archbishop  Beaton  (1523- 
1539),  the  castle  was  kept  with  great  splen- 
dour. The  English  ambassador  wrote,  "  I 
understand  there  hath  not  been  such  a  house 
kept  in  Scotland  many  days  before,  as  of  late 
the  said  archbishop  hath  kept,  and  yet  keepeth; 
insomuch  as  at  the  being  with  him  of  these 
lords  (Angus,  Lennox,  Argyle,  etc.),  both 
horses  and  men,  he  gave  livery  nightly  to 
twenty-one  score  horses." 

On  the  28th  of  March,  1545,  George  Wish- 
art  of  Pit  arrow,  the  famous  divine,  was 
burned  aliive  before  the  castle  by  order  of 
Cardinal  Beaton.  The  tower  was  hung  with 
tapestry  as  for  a  festival,  and  the  cardinal  and 
his  friends  reclined  on  cushions  of  velvet  in 
the  windows  to  enjoy  the  spectacle.  Before 
his  death  Wishart  foretold  the  cardinal's  im- 
pending death  with  much  exactness.  At  this 
very  time,  Henry  VIII  had  entered  into  a 
conspiracy  with  several  Scottish  noblemen,  in- 
cluding Norman  Lesley,  Master  of  Rothes, 
his  uncle  John  Lesley,  and  Kirkcaldy  of 
Grange,  for  the  murder  of  the  prelate. 

On  the  29th  of  May  of  the  same  year,  the 


162    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


conspirators,  about  a  dozen  in  number,  gained 
admittance  to  the  castle  early  in  the  morn- 
ing when  the  drawbridge  was  lowered  to  ad- 
mit workmen  who  were  strengthening  the  for- 
tifications. They  stabbed  the  porter,  sent  off 
the  workmen,  and  gradually  turned  out  all 
the  servants  as  they  appeared  from  their  beds. 
Eventually,  having  thus  quietly  disposed  of 
more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  de- 
fenders, they  were  left  alone  in  the  castle  with 
the  cardinal.  They  forced  open  his  door,  and 
stabbed  him  repeatedly  with  daggers.  "  A 
few  angry  words,  a  bright  gleam  of  steel  as 
the  weapons  flashed  in  the  morning  light,  and 
the  cardinal  fell  covered  with  wounds,  crying 
'  Fy!  fy!  I  am  a  priest;  all  is  gone!'  and 
vengeance  was  satisfied.  The  citizens  having 
been  aroused,  assembled  at  the  gate,  clamour- 
ing for  *  a  word  with  my  lord  cardinal,'  but 
were,  instead,  presented  with  his  mangled 
body,  suspended  from  the  balcony  of  the  tower 
'  by  the  tane  arm  and  the  tane  fut,'  and  re- 
quested to  look  at  their  god."  Sir  David 
Lindsay  of  the  Mount  thus  expresses  the  feel- 
ing of  most  of  the  reformers:  — 

"  As  for  the  cardinal,  I  grant, 
He  was  the  man  we  well  might  want  j 
God  will  forgive  it  soon. 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


163 


But  of  a  truth,  the  sooth  to  say, 
Although  the  loun  be  well  away, 
The  deed  was  foully  done." 


The  conspirators  were  soon  joined  in  the 
castle  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  of  their 
friends  and  held  the  place  for  more  than  a 
year.  The  French  finally  sent  twenty-one 
galleys  under  the  command  of  Leo  Strozzi, 
Prior  of  Capua,  a  knight  of  Rhodes,  to  finish 
the  siege.  Lindsay  of  Pitscottie  relates  that 
"  when  the  news  came  that  these  vessels  were 
seen  off  St.  Abb's  Head,  steering  for  St. 
Andrews,  the  governor  well  content  hereof, 
hasted  him  to  St.  Andrews,  with  the  gentle- 
men of  Fife,  Angus,  and  Strathearn,  and  wel- 
comed the  French  captain.  .  .  .  They  clapt 
about  the  house  so  hastily  and  unexpectedly, 
that  many  were  closed  out,  and  divers  were 
closed  in,  against  their  will.  Then  they 
mounted  their  ordnance  both  upon  the  college 
steeple,  and  also  upon  the  walls  of  the  abbey 
kirk,  wherewith  they  commanded  the  castle 
close;  so  that  no  man  durst  walk  therein,  or 
go  up  to  the  wall  head.  The  captain  told  the 
governor,  that  they  had  been  unexpert  war- 
riors who  had  not  mounted  their  ordnance  on 
the  steeple  heads  in  that  manner,  and  that  he 


164    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


wondered  at  the  keepers  of  the  castle;  that 
they  had  not  first  broken  down  the  heads  of 
the  steeples.  He  caused  also  the  great  battery 
to  be  laid  to  the  castle,  the  two  Scottish  can- 
nons and  six  French;  and  to  prevent  slaugh- 
ter, he  devised  that  the  cannons  should  pass 
down  the  streets  by  engines,  without  any  man 
with  them;  which  thing  when  the  Italian  en- 
gineer (which  had  been  sent  from  England 
for  the  support  of  those  within  the  castle)  per- 
ceived, he  said  that  they  had  now  to  do  with 
men  of  war,  and  therefore  had  need  to  take 
heed  to  themselves.  They  answered  that  they 
should  defend  their  castle  against  Scotland, 
France,  and  Ireland,  all  three.  But  the  bat- 
tery within  a  few  hours  made  such  breaches 
in  the  wall  that,  despairing  of  their  strength, 
after  consultation,  they  yielded  the  castle  and 
themselves  to  the  King  of  France.  The 
French  captain  entered  and  spoiled  the  castle 
very  rigorously;  wherein  they  found  great 
store  of  vivers,  clothes,  armour,  silver,  and 
plate,  which,  with  the  captives,  they  carried 
away  in  their  galleys.  The  governor,  by  the 
advice  of  the  council,  demolished  the  castle, 
least  it  should  be  a  receptacle  of  rebels." 

The  castle  was  rebuilt  by  Archbishop  Ham- 
ilton, and  what  stands  to-day  is  mostly  his 


Fife  and  Vicinity  165 


work,  though  portions  are  represented  by  the 
guides  as  being  much  older.  "  A  genial  keeper 
was  one  day  conducting  a  party  of  tourists 
over  the  ruins,  and  was  describing  their 
various  parts  and  explaining  the  uses  to  which 
they  were  put  in  the  heyday  of  the  castle. 
'  This,  gentlemen,'  he  said,  *  is  the  room  used 
by  Cardinal  Beaton,  and  that,'  pointing  to  the 
opening,  '  is  the  window  from  which  he  wit- 
nessed the  burning  of  George  Wishart  the 
martyr.'  *  But,'  interrupted  one  of  the  party, 
'  this  is  not  Beaton's  castle;  what  remains  is 
the  work  of  Archbishop  Hamilton.'  '  I  ken 
that,'  replied  the  keeper,  '  but  if  I  were  to 
pay  off  Cardinal  Beaton  and  George  Wishart 
I  might  just  as  well  close  the  gate.'  " 

The  ruins  of  St.  Andrews  Castle,  standing 
on  a  bold  headland  washed  by  the  North  Sea, 
offer  a  conspicuous  landmark  to  mariners. 
The  castle  was  very  extensive,  but  is  now  re- 
duced to  a  very  ruinous  condition.  It  was 
originally  a  courtyard  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  square,  partly  surrounded  by  a  moat, 
with  towers  at  each  corner.  The  entrance  was 
once  through  the  central  tower  of  the  south 
side,  the  highest  portion  of  the  ruins.  A  new 
gate,  reached  by  a  drav/bridge,  was  later  cut 
through  the  north  curtain  on  this  side.  Little 


166    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  the  internal  arrangements  remains.  The 
chief  items  of  interest  to  visitors  are  the  bottle 
dungeon  in  the  northwest  dungeon,  and  a  sub- 
terranean passage  under  the  moat,  recently  dis- 
covered. 

Macduff's  Castle 

A  little  to  the  east  of  the  village  of  East 
Wemyss  stand  the  remains  of  a  fifteenth  cen- 
tury castle,  popularly  called  jMacduff 's  Castle, 
because  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Mac- 
duff, Maormor  of  Fife  in  the  reign  of  Mal- 
colm Canmore.  While  this  castle  was  not 
his,  he  had  seats  in  the  vicinity,  and  his  direct 
descendants  in  the  thirty-first  and  thirty-sec- 
ond generation,  of  the  name  of  Wemyss,  are 
still  living  in  the  village.  The  ruins  of  the 
castle  consist  of  remains  of  two  rectangular 
buildings  at  the  top  of  a  steep  sandstone  cliff 
a  hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  They  have  not 
been  occupied  since  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century. 

Newark  Castle 

Newark  Castle,  in  the  little  town  of  St. 
Monance,  consists  of  a  few  fragments  of  an 
early  thick  wall  of  enceinte,  and  a  round  tower 
and  domestic  apartments  built  at  a  much  later 


Fife  and  Vicinity  167 


date.  It  stands  on  a  rocky  cliff  overlooking 
the  Firth  of  Forth.  It  once  belonged  to  the 
famous  soldier,  David  Leslie,  renowned  in  the 
civil  wars  of  the  seventeenth  century,  who 
built  much  of  what  now  stands. 

Falkland  Palace 

The  domain  of  Falkland  belonged  originally 
to  the  Crown  and  was  gifted  by  Malcolm  IV 
to  Duncan,  sixth  Earl  of  Fife,  who  married 
Ada,  the  king's  niece.  It  remained  in  this 
family  until  1371,  when  Isabel,  last  countess 
of  the  line,  transferred  the  estates  to  Robert 
Stuart,  Earl  of  Menteith,  second  son  of  Rob- 
ert II,  who  became  sixteenth  Earl  of  Fife,  and 
was  afterwards  created  Duke  of  Albany. 
This  nobleman  was  for  thirty-four  years  Re- 
gent of  Scotland,  and  resided  in  the  Castle  of 
Falkland.  Of  this  building  no  trace  now  re- 
mains. In  his  days  the  castle  received  its  first 
historic  notoriety,  from  the  tragic  fate  of 
David,  Duke  of  Rothesay,  eldest  son  of 
Robert  III. 

The  Duke  of  Albany  early  perceived  the 
brilliant  promise  of  the  young  heir  to  the 
throne,  and  feared  lest  he  should  menace  his 
power.    Playing  on  the  credulity  of  the  imbe- 


168    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


cile  king,  he  persuaded  him  to  issue  an  order 
for  the  arrest  and  confinement  of  the  prince, 
representing  that  this  was  necessary  to  teach 
him  self-restraint.  He  was  inveigled  to  the 
castle  of  Falkland,  and  imprisoned  to  die  of 
starvation.  His  life  was  prolonged  for  some 
time  by  the  compassion  of  the  daughter  of  the 
governor,  who  fed  him  with  small  cakes 
through  a  crevice  of  the  wall.  When  she  was 
discovered  and  murdered  by  her  own  father 
for  her  merciful  kindness,  her  task  was  taken 
up  by  another  tender-hearted  woman,  a  wet- 
nurse  in  the  governor's  family,  who  supplied 
the  prince  with  milk  from  her  breasts  by 
means  of  a  long  reed,  until  she  too  was  dis- 
covered and  put  to  death. 

When  James  I  returned  from  captivity  in 
1424,  Murdoch,  son  and  successor  in  the  Re- 
gency of  Robert,  was  executed  for  treason,  and 
Falkland  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown.  As  the 
estate  is  well  situated  in  a  pleasant  valley,  at 
a  convenient  distance  from  Edinburgh  and 
Stirling,  and  was  surrounded  by  forests  filled 
with  game,  it  became  a  favourite  resort  of 
the  Stuart  kings.  The  palace  was  begun  by 
either  James  III  or  James  IV,  and  completed 
by  James  V.  This  latter  monarch  was  par- 
ticularly attached  to  Falkland,  and  died  of  grief 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


169 


here  after  the  rout  of  Solway  Moss.  Mary  of 
Guise  often  lived  here,  and  it  was  a  favourite 
resort  of  her  daughter,  Mary  Stuart.  Between 
1561  and  1566  the  latter  visited  it  many  times, 
and  found  much  pleasure  here  in  hunting  and 
other  outdoor  sports.  James  VI  was  also  par- 
tial to  living  here,  and  two  attempts  on  his 
person,  one  of  them  the  famous  Gowrie  con- 
spiracy, were  made  here.  The  last  monarchs 
here  were  Charles  I  and  Charles  II,  both  of 
whom  made  short  visits.  Its  last  visitor  of 
fame  was  Rob  Roy  Macgregor,  who  took  pos- 
session and  plundered  it  after  the  battle  of 
Sheriff muir  in  1715. 

All  that  is  now  left  of  the  original  quad- 
rangle is  the  south  side,  and  a  ruinous  wall  on 
the  east.  The  building  is  partly  inhabited, 
and  architecturally  resembles  Stirling  and 
Linlithgow  Palaces. 

Lochleven  Castle 

Lochleven  Castle  is  one  of  the  best  and  least 
changed  examples  of  a  fourteenth  century  keep 
remaining  in  Scotland.  It  stands  on  an  island 
in  the  loch  of  the  same  name,  which  is  under 
the  control  of  an  association  of  anglers.  This 
association  controls  all  the  boats  which  are 


170    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


allowed  to  ply  upon  the  loch,  and  only  from 
their  pier  in  the  town  of  Kinross  can  the  castle 
be  visited.  The  charge  for  a  boat  with  two 
oarsmen  for  an  excursion  to  the  island  is  five 
shillings,  irrespective  of  the  number  of  the 
party,  to  the  limit  of  capacity  of  the  boat. 
The  lake  is  the  home  of  a  peculiar  species  of 
trout,  of  which  an  average  of  twenty-five  thou- 
sand per  year  are  taken  by  the  anglers,  who 
are  required  to  keep  an  exact  record  of  their 
baskets. 

The  loch  was  lowered  by  drainage  works  in 
the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  so  that  the 
water,  which  once  lapped  the  castle  walls,  has 
left  a  considerable  space  of  greensward  on  all 
sides  at  present.  The  island  seems  to  have 
been  connected  in  very  ancient  times  with  the 
mainland  by  a  causeway,  which  has  now  sunk 
well  under  the  surface.  Still,  in  very  dry 
seasons,  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  wade  all 
the  way  to  the  island. 

The  castle  consists  of  a  small  keep,  only 
about  thirty-eight  feet  by  thirty,  with  walls 
seven  or  eight  feet  thick,  and  five  stories 
high.  This  has  a  vaulted  basement  below  the 
level  of  the  court,  with  no  access  to  the  floor 
above  save  by  a  hatch.  The  entrance  is  two 
floors  above  this,  leaving  the  first  floor  with- 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


171 


out  external  communication.  The  upper 
floors  are  gone,  and  there  is  no  access  to  the 
battlements,  which  have  corbelled  bartizans  at 
the  three  external  corners. 

This  keep  is  provided  with  an  extensive 
courtyard,  which  has  a  continuous  rampart 
walk.  At  the  corner  opposite  the  keep  is  a 
ruinous  round  tower,  in  which  Queen  Mary 
was  confined.  This  is  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, as  were  the  other  buildings  in  the  court- 
yard, of  which  only  the  foundations  now  re- 
main. 

The  earliest  castle  in  the  island  is  said  to 
have  been  built  by  Congal,  son  of  Dongart, 
King  of  the  Picts.  The  first  authentic  history 
of  the  castle  is  given  in  the  following  quota- 
tion: "  In  the  wars  which  harassed  Scotland 
during  the  minority  of  David  II,  the  castle  of 
Lochleven  was  held  in  the  patriotic  interest  by 
Allen  de  Vipont,  against  the  troops  of  Ed- 
ward III,  who  acted  in  behalf  of  Edward 
Baliol.  John  de  Strivilin  blockaded  it,  and 
erected  a  fortress  in  the  churchyard  of  Kin- 
ross, which  occupies  the  point  of  a  neighbour- 
ing promontory;  and,  at  the  lower  end  of  the 
lake,  where  the  water  of  Leven  issues  out  of  it, 
it  is  said  that  he  raised  a  strong  and  lofty 
bulwark,  by  means  of  which  he  hoped  to  lay 


172    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  castle  under  water,  and  constrain  Vipont 
to  surrender.  The  water  continued  to  rise 
daily,  and  the  besiegers  thought  themselves 
certain  of  success,  when,  the  English  general 
and  most  of  his  troops  having  left  the  camp 
to  celebrate  the  festival  of  St.  Margaret  at 
Dunfermline,  the  besieged,  seizing  the  favour- 
able opportunity  (June  19,  1335),  after  much 
labour  and  perseverance  broke  through  the 
barrier,  when  the  water  rushed  out  with  such 
impetuosity  as  to  overwhelm  the  English  en- 
camped on  that  side." 

The  most  famous  association  of  Lochleven 
Castle  is  undoubtedly  the  imprisonment  here 
of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots.  The  Douglases  had 
held  the  castle  and  lands  on  the  mainland  since 
the  time  of  Robert  III.  Sir  Robert  Douglas, 
the  laird  of  Mary's  time,  was  a  kinsman  of 
James,  Earl  of  Morton,  and  stepfather  to  the 
queen's  natural  brother,  James,  Earl  of 
Moray,  so  that  he  was  entirely  in  sympathy 
with  her  captors.  She  was  delivered  into  his 
keeping  on  June  16th,  1567,  immediately  after 
her  surrender  at  Carberry  Hill.  On  the  4th 
of  July  she  was  visited  by  Lord  Ruthven, 
Lord  Lindsay  of  the  Byres,  and  Sir  Robert 
Melville,  who  wrung  from  her  her  signature 
to  an  instrument  purporting  to  resign  the 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


173 


crown  to  her  infant  son  James.  This  scene 
has  been  graphically  depicted  by  Scott,  in 
"  The  Abbot,"  as  well  as  the  other  events  of 
her  stay  here,  and  is  portrayed  with  great 
pathos. 

Mary  was  not  content  with  her  unhappy 
lot,  and  succeeded  in  gaining  the  affections 
of  George  Douglas,  younger  son  of  her 
jailer,  and  in  persuading  him  to  help  her  to 
escape.  The  first  attempt,  on  the  25th  of 
April,  was  unsuccessful,  and  George  was  ex- 
pelled from  the  castle.  He  remained  in  the 
neighbourhood  and  kept  up  correspondence 
with  her.  With  the  assistance  of  William 
Douglas,  a  young  relative  of  the  family,  the 
second  attempt,  on  May  2d,  1568,  was  entirely 
successful.  The  young  lad  stole  the  keys  of 
the  castle  from  the  place  where  they  were 
kept,  while  his  lord  was  at  supper.  "  He  let 
the  queen  and  a  waiting-woman  out  of  the 
apartment  where  they  were  secured,  and  out 
of  the  door  itself,  embarked  with  them  in  a 
small  skiff,  and  rowed  them  to  the  shore. 
To  prevent  instant  pursuit,  he,  for  precau- 
tion's sake,  locked  the  iron  grated  door  of 
the  tower,  and  threw  the  keys  into  the  lake. 
They  found  George  Douglas  and  the  queen's 
servant,  Beaton,  waiting  for  them,  and  Lord 


174    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Seton  and  James  Hamilton  of  Orbieston  in 
attendance,  at  the  head  of  a  party  of  faithful 
followers,  with  whom  they  fled  to  Niddrie 
Castle,  and  from  thence  to  Hamilton."  The 
freedom  of  the  unfortunate  queen  was  of  short 
duration,  however,  ending  with  her  defeat  at 
Langside.  The  keys  of  the  castle  were  re- 
covered when  the  loch  was  lowered,  and  are 
now  in  the  Armoury  at  Abbotsford.  The 
castle  later  served  as  a  prison  for  the  Earl  of 
Northumberland  after  his  rebellion  in  England 
and  capture  in  Scotland.  He  was  confined 
here  from  1569  to  1572,  and  then  delivered  to 
Elizabeth,  by  whose  orders  he  was  executed. 


Burleigh  Castle 

This  ancient  seat  of  the  Balfours,  built  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  stands  near  the  village 
of  Milnathort,  just  north  of  Loch  Leven. 
While  it  was  formerly  a  quadrangular  en- 
closure, all  is  now  gone  except  the  keep  and 
the  gate  and  gatehouse  of  the  courtyard. 
These  are  loopholed  for  both  guns  and  mus- 
ketry in  a  curious  manner,  and  are  exceed- 
ingly picturesque. 

History  tells  us  little  about  the  castle.  The 
most  famous  owner  was  Lord  Balfour  of 


Fife  and  Vicinity  175 


Burleigh,  ambassador  of  James  VI  to  the 
Duke  of  Tuscany  and  the  Duke  of  Lorraine. 
He  was  general  of  the  Scottish  forces  in  1644 
and  was  defeated  by  the  Marquis  of  Mont- 
rose near  Aberdeen.  He  was  also  one  of  the 
commanders  of  the  parliamentary  army  which 
lost  the  bloody  battle  of  Kilsyth  because  of 
the  dissensions  of  its  leaders. 

"  About  a  mile  north  of  Lochleven,  in  this 
neighbourhood,  are  several  remarkable  hol- 
lows, which,  from  their  shape,  have  been  de- 
nominated the  Ships  of  Burleigh.  One  of 
these  is  distinguished  by  the  designation  of 
Lady  Burleigh's  Jointure,  and  tradition  thus 
relates  its  story.  A  Lord  Burleigh,  it  seems, 
had  obtained  in  marriage  a  lady  less  enam- 
oured than  provident.  Her  applications  for 
an  ample  settlement  becoming  somewhat  teas- 
ing, his  lordship,  in  rather  an  angry  mood, 
desired  her  to  attend  him  early  next  day,  when 
he  would  take  her  to  a  field  not  half  a  mile 
distant  from  the  castle,  and  there  settle  upon 
her  all  the  lands  within  her  view.  Avarice  is 
often  credulous,  and  it  was  so  in  this  instance. 
The  lady  walked  forth  with  elated  expecta- 
tions; but  when,  from  a  level  road,  descending 
a  gentle  slope,  she  was  told  to  look  round  her, 
she  beheld,  with  disappointed  emotion,  only 


176    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


a  verdant  circle  of  about  fifty  yards  in  diam- 
eter, finely  horizoned  with  a  lofty  cope  of 
azure." 

Dunfermline  Palace 

A  few  miles  west  of  Edinburgh  the  Firth  of 
Forth  contracts  to  a  narrow  channel,  and  here 
since  the  earliest  times  has  existed  a  ferry 
which  enabled  easy  communication  between 
the  capital  and  the  eastern  border,  and  the 
peninsula  of  Fife.  Not  far  from  the  northern 
end  of  this  ferry  route,  within  easy  reach  of 
Edinburgh,  yet  not  exposed  to  sudden  raids 
from  the  southland,  sprang  up  the  town  of 
Dunfermline,  which  has  played  a  prominent 
part  in  Scottish  history.  The  region  was  much 
affected  by  Malcolm  Canmore,  and  here  he 
built  him  a  tower,  some  small  remains  of  which 
may  still  be  seen  on  a  rocky  promontory  pro- 
jecting into  a  small  glen  near  the  palace  and 
abbey.  This  was  a  keep  apparently  about  fifty 
feet  square,  now  but  a  grass-grown  stump. 
"  The  site  of  Malcolm's  tower,"  says  Mercer, 
"  was  strikingly  adapted  for  a  stronghold,  and 
could  not  fail  of  attracting  a  rude  engineer  of 
the  eleventh  century.  Fordun  says  it  was  a 
place  extremely  strong  by  natural  situation, 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


177 


and  fortified  by  steep  rocks;  in  the  middle  of 
which  there  was  a  pleasant  level,  likewise  de- 
fended by  rock  and  water,  so  that  it  might  be 
imagined  that  the  following  words  were  de- 
scriptive of  this  place :  —  Non  homini  facilis, 
vioo  adeunda  feris.  '  It  is  difficult  to  men, 
scarcely  accessible  to  wild  beasts.'  The  venusta 
planities,  —  or  '  pleasant  level '  on  which  the 
tower  was  built,  —  forms  the  summit  of  a  very 
steep  eminence  that  rises  abruptly  out  of  the 
glen,  and  causes  the  rivulet  to  wind  round  its 
base,  forming  a  peninsula.  The  whole  sub- 
structure of  the  glen  on  both  sides  is  formed 
of  freestone,  which  projects  in  many  places 
from  the  surface ;  and  these  rugged  declivities 
must  have  been  clothed  with  thick  impervious 
woods,  rendering  the  summits  extremely  diffi- 
cult of  access  on  three  sides." 

In  this  tower  lived  Malcolm  Canmore,  King 
of  Scotland,  and  here  he  married  the  Saxon 
princess  Margaret,  granddaughter  of  Edmund 
Ironsides,  King  of  England.  When  William 
the  Conqueror  overthrew  the  Saxon  dynasty, 
Edgar,  heir  to  the  throne,  with  his  mother 
Agatha  and  his  two  sisters  Margaret  and 
Christian,  took  ship  to  flee  to  Hungary.  Be- 
ing blown  north  by  contrary  winds,  they 
landed  in  a  bay  called  St.  Margaret's  Hope, 


178    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


near  North  Queensferry,  and  sought  the  hos- 
pitality of  Malcolm. 

Malcolm's  Tower  was  but  a  poor  residence 
for  kings,  and  it  was  eventually  replaced  by  a 
palace  adjoining  the  abbey  founded  by  Mal- 
colm. It  is  said  that  Robert  Bruce  was  the 
builder  of  the  palace,  but  it  was  added  to  by 
later  kings.  It  was  frequently  visited  by  the 
Scottish  monarchs,  as  is  evident  from  state 
papers  dated  there.  James  IV  was  very  par- 
tial to  the  palace,  and  practically  rebuilt  it. 
James  V  visited  it  with  his  bride,  Mary  of  Lor- 
raine, and  James  VI  resided  here  often.  Here 
were  born  Charles  I  in  1600,  and  Elizabeth, 
Queen  of  Bohemia,  in  1596.  The  last  royal 
visitor  was  Charles  II,  in  1650,  after  which 
time  it  appears  to  have  gone  to  ruin.  The 
roof  fell  in  in  1708,  and  all  that  is  now  left 
is  the  south  wall,  two  hundred  and  five  feet 
long,  and  the  kitchen. 

A  curious  anecdote  is  told  of  the  infancy  of 
Charles  I:  "  Charles  was,  it  is  said,  a  very 
peevish  child,  and  used  to  annoy  his  parents 
by  his  cries  during  the  night.  One  night  he 
was  puling  in  his  cradle,  which  lay  in  an  apart- 
ment opening  from  the  bedroom  of  the  king 
and  queen,  when  the  nurse  employed  to  tend 
him  suddenly  alarmed  the  royal  pair  by  a  loud 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


179 


scream,  followed  up  by  the  exclamation,  '  Eh! 
my  bairn ! ' 

"  The  king  started  out  of  bed  at  hearing 
the  noise,  and  ran  into  the  room  where  the 
child  lay,  crying :  '  Hout,  tout,  what's  the 
matter  wi'  ye,  nursie? ' 

"  *  Oh! '  exclaimed  the  woman,  '  there  was 
like  an  auld  man  came  into  the  room,  and 
threw  his  cloak  ower  the  prince's  cradle;  and 
syne  drew  it  till  him  again,  as  if  he  had  ta'en 
cradle,  bairn,  and  a'  awa'  wi'  him.  I'm 
feared  it  was  the  thing  that's  no  canny.' 

"  *  Fiend,  nor  he  had  ta'en  the  girnin'  brat 
clean  awa' ! '  said  King  James,  whose  demon- 
ological  learning  made  him  at  once  see  the 
truth  of  the  nurse's  observations ;  '  gin  he  ever 
be  king,  there'll  be  nae  gude  a'  his  reign;  the 
de'il  has  cusen  (cast)  his  cloak  ower  him 
already.' 

"  This  story  is  generally  told,"  adds  the 
writer,  "  and  in  the  same  manner,  by  the  aged 
and  more  primitive  portion  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Dunfermline,  and  the  latter  part  of  the 
king's  observation  is  proverbial  in  the  town, 
it  being  common  to  say  to  a  mislearned  or  ill- 
conditioned  person,  '  I  daresay  the  de'il  has 
cusen  his  cloak  ower  you! '  " 


180    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Castle  Campbell 


Plan  of  Castle  Campbell 


A  couple  of  miles  from  the  town  of  Dollar, 
on  a  high  spur  of  the  Ochil  Hills,  in  one  of 
the  grandest  situations  enjoyed  by  any  castle 
in  Scotland,  stands  Castle  Campbell.  The 
only  approach  to  it  is  up  the  bed  of  the  burn, 
through  a  narrow  canon  of  tremendous  depth, 
across  dizzy  chasms  on  narrow  bridges,  and 
finally  up  a  stiff  climb  by  the  side  of  tumbling 
waterfalls.  The  ascent  is  difficult  and  arduous 
even  now,  after  the  way  is  smoothed  as  well 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


181 


as  may  be  for  the  tourist.  What  must  have 
been  the  prospect  for  the  enemy  who  tried  to 
compass  the  attack  of  the  castle  against  a 
determined  defence! 

The  castle  stands  on  a  green  promontory 
between  the  two  streams,  known  as  the  Burn 
of  Sorrow  and  the  Burn  of  Care,  and  its 
original  name  was  the  Castle  of  Gloom.  The 
mound  on  which  it  stands  is  partly  natural  and 
partly  artificial,  and  at  least  three  hundred 
feet  high.  On  the  side  toward  the  hills  was 
formerly  a  deep  chasm,  spanned  by  a  draw- 
bridge ;  but  this  is  now  partly  filled  up,  so  that 
the  ascent  on  this  side  is  not  more  than  fifty 
feet.  In  such  a  situation,  before  the  advent  of 
artillery,  an  attack  on  this  castle  would  have 
been  perfectly  useless.  No  engines  could  have 
been  brought  to  bear  on  it,  and  a  handful  of 
men  on  the  parapets  could  have  resisted  an 
army  as  long  as  their  provisions  held  out. 

The  castle  comprises  a  keep  and  enceinte  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  to  which  have  been 
added  buildings  about  the  walls  of  the  en- 
closure. The  keep  is  a  simple  rectangle, 
twenty-eight  by  sixteen  feet  inside,  with  walls 
about  eight  feet  thick.  The  original  entrance 
is  on  the  ground  floor,  and  the  hall  floor  is 
reached  by  a  wheel-stair.    The  upper  rooms 


182    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


are  reached  by  another  stair  in  the  opposite 
corner,  a  most  unusual  arrangement.  The 
keep  has  three  vaults,  the  upper  one  cut  in 
two  by  a  wooden  floor  midway  of  its  height. 
The  dungeon  in  the  ground  floor  is  six  and 
a  half  by  three  feet,  and  reached  only  by  a 
trapdoor  from  the  hall;  truly,  a  desirable 
place  to  be  imprisoned  in! 


Elevation  Plan  of  Castle  Campbell 


The  later  buildings  comprise  ranges  on  both 
east  and  south  sides.  Those  on  the  south  were 
lighted  by  numerous  windows  cut  in  the  south 
wall,  and  are  therefore  of  comparatively  late 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


183 


date.  They  comprised  a  row  of  vaults  in  the 
basement,  and  a  large  hall  and  private  rooms 
above.  The  east  wing  contained  private  apart- 
ments. A  new  staircase  here  gave  access  to 
both  the  east  wing  and  the  keep,  and  two  more 
angle  turrets  on  the  south  side  also  carried 
staircases.  The  porch  on  the  east  side  is  an 
excellent  piece  of  work.  The  gateway  and 
gatehouse  are  late  work,  as  is  proved  by  the 
gun-holes  for  defence. 

The  name  of  the  castle  was  changed  to  its 
present  designation  by  act  of  parliament  in 
1489,  at  the  request  of  its  proprietor,  the  first 
Earl  of  Argyle.  It  was  destroyed  in  1645, 
when  the  MacLeans  and  Ogilvies,  the  fierce 
allies  of  the  Marquis  of  Montrose,  carried  fire 
and  sword  through  all  the  Argyle  territories. 
It  is  now  partly  inhabited,  and  kept  in  good 
repair. 

Clackmannan  Tower 

Clackmannan  Tower  is  situated  in  the  town 
of  the  same  name,  six  or  seven  miles  from  Stir- 
ling, and  two  from  Alloa.  The  tower  be- 
longed to  David  II,  who  gifted  it  in  1359  to 
his  cousin  Robert  Eruce,  in  the  possession  of 
whose  descendants  it  remained  until  1791. 
King  Robert  Bruce  is  also  said  to  have  resided 


184    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


here,  and  his  sword  and  helmet  were  preserved 
in  the  tower  until  the  Bruce  family  died  out, 
when  they  were  transferred  to  the  Earl  of 
Elgin,  as  the  nearest  of  kin.  The  old  Jacob- 
ite lady,  Mrs.  Bruce,  who  knighted  Robert 
Burns  with  the  sword  of  Bruce,  resided  here. 

The  tower  is  of  peculiar  construction.  The 
original  keep,  which  has  a  gabled  roof,  event- 
ually became  too  small,  and  another  wing  was 
built  on  to  the  south,  which  is  higher  than  the 
original  structure.  This  addition  has  an  em- 
brasured parapet  with  open  machicolations 
and  rounded  corners,  which  gives  the  structure 
a  very  martial  air. 

Niddrie  Castle 

Niddrie  Castle  is  easily  to  be  seen  by  every 
visitor  to  Scotland  who  passes  by  rail  from 
Glasgow  to  Edinburgh,  as  it  stands  within 
fifty  yards  of  the  railroad  track  about  three 
miles  east  of  Linlithgow.  It  is  visible  only 
for  a  minute  on  the  north  side  of  the  track, 
as  the  train  passes  the  only  break  in  a  long 
deep  cutting,  but  this  glimpse  shows  prac- 
tically all  that  could  be  seen  by  a  visit  to  the 
castle.  It  is  an  empty  and  ruinous  L-keep 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  of  very  massive  con- 


Fife  and  Vicinity  185 


struction.  When  more  room  was  needed,  for 
security's  sake  it  was  gained  by  adding  to  the 
top.    The  castle  was  the  ancient  seat  of  the 


Plan  of  Niddrie  Castle 


Earls  of  Winton,  and  its  sole  historical  in- 
terest lies  in  the  fact  that  Queen  Mary  passed 
a  night  there  while  fleeing  from  Lochleven 
Castle  to  join  her  friends  at  Hamilton. 


186    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Linlithgow  Palace 


Plan  of  Linlithgow  Palace,  First  Floor 


Linlithgow  Palace  is  situated  about  half- 
way between  Edinburgh  and  Stirling,  on  a 
promontory  projecting  into  a  small  lake,  and 
was  of  such  magnificence  when  complete  as  to 
fully  justify  the  statement  of  Mary  of  Guise, 
who  said,  "  She  had  never  seen  a  more  princely 
palace,"  and  Scott's  description  in  "  The  Lay 
of  the  Last  Minstrel:  "  — 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


187 


"  Of  all  the  palaces  so  fair 

Built  for  the  royal  dwelling, 
In  Scotland,  far  beyond  compare 

Linlithgow  is  excelling: 
And  in  its  park  in  jovial  June 
How  sweet  the  merry  linnet's  tune, 

How  blithe  the  blackbird's  lay  ! 
The  wild  buck  bells  from  ferny  brake. 
The  coot  dives  merry  on  the  lake,  — 
The  saddest  heart  might  pleasure  take 

To  see  a  scene  so  gay." 

The  palace  is  approached  through  a  gate- 
house erected  by  James  V  and  ornamented  by 
shields  on  which  are  carved  his  four  orders  of 
knighthood,  St.  Michael,  the  Golden  Fleece, 
the  Garter  and  the  Thistle.  The  palace  is 
now  entered  by  a  gate  passage  on  the  south 
side.  On  the  right  of  this  is  the  guard-room, 
in  which  the  Regent  Moray  expired  after 
being  shot  in  the  main  street  of  the  town  by 
Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh.  The  passage 
leads  into  a  large  court,  about  ninety  feet 
square,  around  which  the  palace  forms  a  com- 
plete quadrangle,  with  towers  at  each  internal 
corner.  On  the  east  side  is  another  passage 
which  was  the  original  main  entrance  of  the 
palace.  This  has  also  a  guard  room,  and  was 
defended  by  three  doors  and  a  portcullis.  It 
opens  on  the  outside  at  a  level  considerably 


188    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


above  that  of  the  park,  and  was  reached  by  a 
drawbridge  from  the  outer  wall,  which  was 
strengthened  by  towers,  the  bases  of  three  of 
which  still  remain  to  the  north  of  the  entrance. 
The  original  gate  is  elaborately  ornamented 
outside  with  carved  niches  and  armorial  bear- 
ings. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  palace  is  occupied 
with  cellars,  stables,  kitchens,  bakeries,  and 
other  domestic  offices.  The  main  public  rooms 
were  on  the  first  floor.  They  include  chapel, 
anteroom,  dining  room,  drawing  room,  ban- 
queting hall,  kitchen,  and  the  great  hall  called 
the  parliament  house,  as  well  as  a  number  of 
private  rooms.  The  great  hall  is  one  hundred 
feet  long  and  thirty  wide,  and  had  an  open 
timbered  roof.  The  fireplace  is  very  fine,  be- 
ing divided  into  three  parts,  and  extending 
across  the  whole  end  of  the  room.  The  col- 
umns and  lintels  are  beautifully  carved. 

The  private  apartments  of  the  king  are  on 
the  west  side,  ^nd  in  the  one  called  the  draw- 
ing room  it  is  said  that  Queen  Mary  was  born. 
The  north  side  contains  a  fine  hall  called  the 
banqueting  hall,  and  numerous  bedrooms. 
The  angle  turrets  all  carry  stairs  to  the  roof, 
which  has  continuous  battlements  for  defence. 
The  northwest  tower  is  highest,  and  contains 


^een  Mary  W as  Born 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


189 


a  room  at  the  top  known  as  "  Queen  Mar- 
garet's Bower,"  said  to  be  her  boudoir,  where 
she  watched  vainly  for  the  return  of  her  hus- 
band, James  IV,  after  Flodden. 

The  site  of  LinHthgow  Palace  was  occupied 
by  a  Roman  station,  being  connected  by  a  road 
with  the  Wall  of  Antoninus  at  a  point  in  the 
parish  of  Falkirk.  In  the  time  of  David  I 
there  was  a  royal  residence  here.  Edward  I 
built  "  a  Pele  mekill  and  stark  "  here  about 
1300,  and  spent  three  months  there  during  the 
winter  of  the  next  year.  It  remained  in  his 
hands  until  1313,  when  it  was  taken  by  Bruce, 
with  the  aid  of  the  stratagem  devised  by  the 
peasant  William  Bunnock,  or  Binny.  "  Binny, 
who  was  known  to  the  garrison,  and  had  been 
employed  in  leading  hay  into  the  fort,  com- 
municated his  design  to  a  party  of  Scottish 
soldiers,  whom  he  stationed  in  ambush  near 
the  gate.  In  his  large  wain  he  contrived  to 
conceal  eight  armed  men,  covered  with  a  load 
of  hay;  a  servant  drove  the  oxen,  and  Binny 
himself  walked  carelessly  at  his  side.  When 
the  portcullis  was  raised,  and  the  wain  stood  in 
the  middle  of  the  gateway,  interposing  a  com- 
plete barrier  to  its  descent,  the  driver  cut  the 
ropes  which  harnessed  the  oxen;  upon  which 
signal  the  armed  men  suddenly  leapt  from  the 


190    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


cart,  the  soldiers  iii  ambush  rushed  iii,  and  so 
complete  was  the  surprise,  that  with  httle  re- 
sistance the  garrison  were  put  to  the  sword, 
and  the  place  taken."  The  castle  was  des- 
troyed by  Bruce,  in  accordance  with  his  usual 
pohcy.  It  was  restored  by  David  II,  and 
became  a  favouiite  residence  of  the  Scotch 
monarchs.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  142-4, 
and  rebuilding  operations  were  begun  at  once 
by  James  I.  Between  then  and  1-451,  the  west 
side  and  possibly  the  north  side,  afterwards 
rebuilt  by  James  VI,  were  probably  erected. 
The  south  side  was  completed  before  1496. 
James  III  and  James  IV  were  very  fond  of 
the  palace,  and  the  latter  built  the  east  side. 
James  V  erected  the  gatehouse  and  changed 
the  entrance  to  correspond.  He  presented  the 
palace  to  his  queen,  ]\Iary  of  Guise,  whose 
conmient  has  been  already  quoted.  It  was 
finally  completed  by  James  VI. 

After  the  removal  of  James  VI  to  Eng- 
land, the  palace  was  Httle  used,  though  it  con- 
tinued to  be  habitable.  It  was  fortified  by 
CromweU,  and  afterward  occupied  by  Prince 
Charlie.  In  1746,  when  the  royal  army  passed 
through  here  in  pursuit  of  the  Pretender, 
Hawley's  Dragoons  occupied  the  hall  on  the 
north  side.    ^"\Tien  they  departed,  they  neg- 


Fife  and  Vicinity 


191 


lected  to  extinguish  their  fires,  and  the  build- 
ing was  soon  in  flames.  By  the  time  this  was 
discovered  the  roof  had  ignited,  and  the  lead 
with  which  it  was  covered  melted  and  flowed 
down  in  streams,  making  it  impossible  to  fight 
the  conflagration.  Since  then  the  palace  has 
remained  in  ruins,  but  is  now  kept  in  good 
repair  by  the  royal  authorities. 


CHAPTER  IX 


EDINBURGH  CASTLE 

Of  all  the  castles  of  Scotland,  that  which 
is  most  familiar  both  to  the  traveller  and  the 
reader  is  that  of  Edinburgh.  Frowning  down 
from  its  precipitous  rock,  the  most  conspicu- 
ous mass  in  the  landscape  for  miles  around,  it 
is  the  first  object  which  seizes  the  attention  of 
the  approaching  traveller  to-day,  as  it  has  in 
all  ages.  The  time  when  men  first  used  this 
rock  as  a  fortress  dates  back  to  the  age  of 
hazy  fable  and  tradition.  When  the  Roman 
brought  his  legions  hither,  its  history  began, 
but  long  ere  this  the  Picts  had  built  a  rude 
wall  upon  its  summit.  They  were  the  Otta- 
dini,  the  first  whom  we  know  to  have  lived 
upon  this  beetling  rock.  From  them,  the 
Romans  wrested  it,  but  their  hold  was  transi- 
tory; their  rule  was  soon  forgotten  in  Valen- 
tia,  as  they  named  their  northernmost  province, 
in  which  the  rock  was,  and  with  their  rule  van- 
ished the  name  they  must  have  given  the 
Castlehill. 

192 


Edinburgh  Castle  193 


To  the  Romans  succeeded  the  Britons,  but 
most  of  what  they  did  about  here  has  dropped 
back  into  forgetfulness.  Here,  however, 
warred  that  hero  of  Romance,  Arthur  of  the 
Table  Round,  and  his  deeds  have  riveted  his 
name  to  several  places  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Best  known  of  these  is  Arthur's  Seat,  the 
mighty  mass  of  trap  overlooking  all  Edin- 
burgh from  the  southeast.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  the  northern  Cymry,  separated 
from  their  southern  brethren  in  Wales  by  the 
relentless  onsweep  of  the  Saxons,  sullenly  re- 
treated to  the  borders  of  Scotland  under  their 
great  leader  Arthur,  and  there  waged  their 
last  desperate  battles,  which,  however,  were  not 
able  to  prevent  the  submerging  of  their  nation- 
ality in  the  peoples  of  the  Scotch  Highlands 
and  Lowlands.  As  they  did  fight  fiercely, 
and  for  long  held  back  the  Northumbrian 
princes,  let  us  believe  that  tradition  is  right 
in  telling  us  that  Arthur,  wearied  with  long 
war,  sat  on  the  brow  of  Arthur's  Seat,  and  saw 
his  victorious  forces  drive  back  the  hated 
Saxons  for  a  time  at  least. 

From  this  fabulous  time  dates  the  earliest 
name  recorded  for  the  Castle  Rock  of  Edin- 
burgh, "  Castelh-Mynyd-Agned,"  the  For- 
tress of  the  Hill  above  the  Plain.    Later  the 


194    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


monks  mistranslated  this,  and  called  it  "  Cas- 
trum  Puellarum,"  the  Castle  of  the  Maidens, 
fabricating  the  legend  that  the  rock  was  the 
home  of  the  daughters  of  the  Pictish  kings. 
In  the  year  617,  when  Northumbrian  rule  in 
the  Lothians  was  well  established,  Edwin  of 
Deira  overthrew  Ethelfrith  of  Northumbria, 
and  fortified  the  rock  to  hold  the  Britons  in 
check.  He  named  the  town  which  grew  about 
the  fort  "  Edwin's-burgh."  The  Celts  modi- 
fied this  to  Dun-Edin,  which,  besides  meaning 
"  the  hill  of  Edwin,"  may  be  translated  "  the 
face  of  a  hill,"  and  may  be  regarded  as  a 
descriptive  name. 

Edwin's  Castle  protected  his  town,  which 
gradually  crept  down  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
hill.  But  the  Picts  did  not  relish  this  Saxon 
village  in  their  territory,  and  in  the  middle  of 
the  century  swept  down  upon  the  town  while 
the  castle  garrison  was  away  on  a  foray,  and 
almost  entirely  destroyed  it.  Unhappily  they 
stayed  a  little  too  long  to  burn  and  plunder, 
and  the  garrison  caught  them  at  their  task, 
to  take  a  bloody  revenge.  So  for  a  generation 
it  remained  a  Saxon  thorn  in  the  Pictish  side. 
In  685  Brudi,  Pictish  king,  in  the  great  bat- 
tle of  Nectansmere,  destroyed  the  forces  of 
Northumbria  with  their  King  Egfrith,  and 


Edinburgh  Castle  195 


made  Edinburgh  his  own.  From  that  time  on 
Picts  and  Scots  made  conmion  cause  against 
Angles,  Saxons,  and  Britons,  and  held  their 
own  against  them.  In  844  Kenneth  Mac- 
Alpine  united  the  two  peoples,  and  Scotch  his- 
tory begins. 

Again  a  century  later  we  find  Northumbria 
powerful  in  the  Lothians,  but  Malcolm  II,  the 
first  Scotch  king  whose  reign  may  be  said  to 
belong  in  the  realm  of  authentic  history,  de- 
termined to  break  its  power.  At  first  he  was 
unsuccessful,  but  in  1018,  aided  by  King  Owen 
of  Cumbria,  he  destroyed  the  Northumbrian- 
army  at  Carham  on  the  Tweed,  and  settled 
the  frontier  of  Scotland  for  all  time.  King 
Canute  accepted  the  Tweed  as  the  northern 
boundary  of  England,  and  Edinburgh  became 
for  ever  Scotch. 

The  establishment  of  the  frontier  by  no 
means  kept  the  English  out  of  Scotland,  and 
Malcolm  Canmore,  the  next  king,  decided  to 
build  such  a  fortress  that  it  would  completely 
dominate  the  roads  from  south  to  north.  He 
rebuilt  Edinburgh  Castle,  and  there  made  his 
royal  residence.  It  was  the  favourite  home 
of  his  beautiful  and  religious  wife,  Margaret, 
sister  of  Edgar  Atheling,  and  niece  of  Ed- 
ward the  Confessor.    This  pious  queen  tried 


196    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


her  best  to  introduce  among  the  rude  Scots 
some  of  the  culture  of  more  refined  England, 
but  without  much  success.  The  king  preferred 
the  clash  of  spear  and  shield,  the  chase  or 
the  foray,  to  mass  and  litany.  But  he  idolized 
his  beautiful  wife,  had  her  books  of  devotion 
bound  in  sumptuous  gold  and  jewels,  and 
kissed  piously  what  he  could  not  read. 

For  her  he  built  the  Chapel  of  Saint  Mar- 
garet, the  oldest  and  smallest  ecclesiastical 
building  in  Scotland,  standing  to-day  in  the 
castle  yard  almost  as  it  did  in  her  time.  He 
also  endowed  and  built  for  her  the  Abbey  of 
Dunfermline,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Forth, 
and  as  she  passed  from  one  to  the  other  for 
her  devotions,  she  gave  her  name  to  what  is 
still  known  as  the  "  Queen's  Ferry." 

Margaret's  chamber  was  where  the  Argyle 
Battery  now  stands,  and  here  in  November, 
1093,  the  queen  lay  dying  of  a  decline,  brought 
on  by  her  ascetic  hfe.  The  king  and  his  eldest 
son  were  off  to  the  wars,  and  on  the  13th  of 
the  month  both  were  slain  while  besieging  Aln- 
wick Castle.  On  the  fourth  day  thereafter, 
the  queen  heard  mass  and  partook  of  the  sac- 
rament. Then,  returning  to  her  bed,  she  asked 
for  her  precious  relic,  the  Black  Rood  of  Scot- 
land, which  contained  a  fragment  of  the  true 


4 

Edinburgh  Castle  197 


cross.  While  she  was  holding  this  in  ecstasy, 
there  came  to  her  her  second  son  with  the  sad 
news  that  his  father  and  brother  were  no  more. 
The  saintly  queen  spoke  no  word,  but  raised 
her  relic  to  heaven  and  passed  away. 

Donalbain,  the  brother  of  the  king,  claimed 
the  throne  by  the  ancient  Scotch  law  of  tanis- 
try,  which  excluded  a  chieftain's  sons  from  the 
succession  in  favour  of  his  brother  or  nephew, 
and  stormed  up  against  the  castle  walls  with 
his  wild  Highlanders,  bent  on  assuring  his 
throne  by  the  slaughter  of  his  nephews.  The 
firm  walls  held  him  out,  but  escape  was  neces- 
sary, as  the  castle  was  not  prepared  for  a  siege. 
Close  beleaguerment  seemed  to  make  this  im- 
possible, but  Turgot,  the  queen's  confessor, 
having  prepared  the  body  for  burial  in  her 
own  Abbey  of  Dunfermline,  caused  the  sally- 
port on  the  west  side  to  be  opened,  and  carried 
forth  the  corpse  in  solemn  procession.  A  mi- 
raculous mist  settled  about  the  cortege,  and 
dead  queen  and  living  princes  passed  unseen 
through  the  lines  of  blinded  foes,  across  the 
Queen's  Ferry,  and  on  to  the  stately  church 
of  the  Culdees,  where  the  body  was  laid  with 
those  of  her  loved  ones.  Having  seen  the 
funeral  rites  performed,  the  sons  returned  and 
put  their  uncle  to  flight.    Edgar  took  the 


198    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


crown,  but  soon  died  in  the  castle,  and  his 
brother  became  king  as  David  I. 

David  lived  his  life  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  and 
changed  the  appearance  of  the  surroundings. 
Until  then  the  foot  of  the  rock  was  surrounded 
by  a  deep  and  dangerous  wilderness,  a  tangled 
forest  seamed  with  dark  pools  and  treacherous 
morasses.  Much  of  this  he  cleared  away  and 
turned  into  a  garden,  being  on  the  whole  a 
man  of  peace,  with  some  refined  tastes.  The 
town  at  this  time  was  very  small  in  extent, 
and  composed  of  thatched  mud  huts.  How 
small  it  was  is  shown  by  a  famous  passage 
in  Boece,  telling  of  a  notable  event  in  the 
king's  life.  He  states  that  in  the  fourth  year 
of  his  reign  the  king  was  resident  at  Edin- 
burgh Castle,  which  was  surrounded  by  "  ane 
gret  forest  full  of  Hartis,  hyndis,  toddis 
(foxes)  and  sic  lyk  maner  of  Beistis."  On 
the  day  of  the  Holy  Rood,  he  determined  to 
go  forth  into  this  wilderness  to  hunt,  being 
pressed  thereto  by  his  thoughtless  young 
nobles.  In  vain  Alcuin,  his  confessor,  en- 
treated him  to  desist.  He  departed  with  a 
great  multitude :  "At  last  quhen  he  wes 
cumyn  thorow  the  vail  that  lyis  ti  the  eist  fra 
the  said  Castell,  quhare  nou  lyis  the  Canon- 
gaitt,  the  staill   (train)   passed  thorow  the 


Edinburgh  Castle  199 


wode  with  sic  noyis  and  dyn  of  bugillis,  that 
all  the  beistis  wer  raisit  fra  their  dennis."  In 
the  ardour  of  the  chase  the  king  became  sepa- 
rated from  his  companions,  and  suddenly 
found  himself  thrown  from  his  horse,  and 
about  to  be  gored  by  a  great  stag.  As  he 
gave  himself  up  for  lost,  a  marvellous  mist 
rolled  about  him,  and  a  hand  reached  out  of 
it  a  cross.  He  grasped  it,  and  the  stag  took 
to  flight.  That  night  he  dreamed  that  his 
adventure  was  a  heavenly  command  to  build 
an  Augustinian  monastery  on  the  spot  where 
his  life  was  miraculously  saved.  Thus  he  came 
to  endow  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood.  He  became 
thereafter  so  devout  and  expended  so  much 
money  on  religious  foundations,  that  James 
VI,  being  told  that  his  ancestor  was  a  saint, 
testily  replied,  "  Humph,  he  was  a  sair  saunct 
to  the  Croon."  Among  his  secular  works,  he 
greatly  strengthened  the  castle,  building  the 
great  Norman  keep,  whose  fragments  still 
serve  as  the  foundations  of  the  Argyle  Tower, 
as  well  as  several  other  of  the  outworks.  He 
made  the  town  one  of  the  four  burghs  royal 
in  1128. 

From  this  time  on,  Edinburgh  always  ranks 
as  one  of  the  most  important  places  in  Scot- 
land.   The  kings  were  always  crowned  at 


200    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Scone,  and  the  parliaments  were  held  in  vari- 
ous towns,  but  Edinburgh  Castle  was  a  fa- 
vourite place  of  residence  of  all  the  kings 
from  David  I  down.  Wilham  the  Lion  was 
wont  to  reside  there  until  he  made  an  unfor- 
tunate expedition  across  the  border  and  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  English  in  1174.  He 
surrendered  the  castle  to  the  English  and  did 
not  regain  it  for  twelve  years.  He  then  mar- 
ried Ermengarde,  an  English  princess,  and 
she  brought  it  as  a  dower. 

In  1215  the  first  parliament  of  Alexan- 
der II  was  held  in  Edinburgh.  In  1235  there 
was  held  here  a  provincial  synod  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  presided  over  by  Cardinal 
L'Aleran,  legate  of  Pope  Gregory  IX.  Alex- 
ander III  and  his  girl  wife  Margaret,  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  III,  resided  in  the  castle,  and 
he  made  it  the  depository  of  his  regalia  and 
archives;  but  the  queen  was  much  dissatisfied 
with  her  habitation,  and  complained  of  it  as 
"  a  sad  and  solitary  place  without  verdure  and 
by  reason  of  its  vicinity  to  the  sea  unwhole- 
some." Alexander  was  surprised  in  the  castle 
by  a  band  of  nobles  headed  by  the  Earl  of 
Dunbar,  who  were  favourable  to  the  English, 
and  laid  down  terms  to  the  king,  after  driving 
out  his  loyal  nobles. 


Edinburgh  Castle  201 


Alexander  died  a  tragic  death  in  1286,  hav- 
ing been  thrown  from  his  horse  near  King- 
horn  in  Fife.    His  death  was  a  sore  blow  to 
the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  and  well  justified 
the  doleful  words  of  Thomas  the  Rhymer 
which  are  reproduced  elsewhere.    The  death 
of  his  granddaughter,  the  Maid  of  Norway, 
while  on  the  way  to  claim  her  crown,  opened 
the  way  to  rival  claimants  for  the  throne,  and 
the  Wars  of  the  Succession  involved  Edin- 
burgh in  dire  disaster.    Edward  I,  seizing  the 
opportunity,  asserted  his  feudal  superiority 
over  Scotland,  and  besieged  Edinburgh  in 
1291.   He  captured  the  castle  after  a  siege  of 
fifteen  days,  but  it  was  later  withdrawn  from 
his  control,  and  he  captured  it  again  in  1294, 
after  the  battle  of  Dunbar.    Thereafter,  the 
magistrates  and  inhabitants  of  the  burgh  gave 
their  fealty  to  him,  and  the  castle  remained 
in  his  hands  for  nearly  twenty  years.  In 
1313,  Bruce  had  nearly  recovered  Scotland, 
and  Edinburgh  was  one  of  the  few  strongholds 
which  remained  to  Edward  II. 

The  castle  was  defended  by  Sir  John  Wil- 
ton, whose  loyalty  was  intensified  by  the  fact 
that  his  promised  bride  had  made  their  mar- 
riage conditional  on  his  holding  the  castle  a 
year  and  a  day.    Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray, 


202    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


invested  the  rock,  but  the  garrison  was  strong 
and  well  furnished,  and  it  seemed  impossible 
even  to  hope  that  it  could  be  starved  out  before 
the  return  of  the  English  king.  Bruce  in- 
formed Randolph  that  the  castle  must  be 
taken  at  all  hazards.  The  earl  tried  his  best, 
but  every  approach  to  the  walls  called  forth 
such  a  storm  of  arrows,  bolts  and  rocks  from 
the  engines  as  made  an  assault  hopeless. 

At  this  juncture,  on  a  cold  March  after- 
noon, William  Francis,  a  trusted  under-officer, 
informed  the  earl  that  he  would  undertake  to 
lead  a  party  up  the  crag  by  night  and  surprise 
the  fortress.  It  seems  that  a  number  of  years 
before  his  father  had  been  keeper  of  the  castle 
under  Baliol.  He  was  a  soldier  of  the  garri- 
son, which  was  kept  strictly  within  the  walls, 
and  forbidden  to  go  out  under  any  pretext. 
Being  enamoured  of  a  maiden  who  lived  in 
the  West  Bow,  and  having  as  a  boy  clam- 
bered all  over  the  castle  rock,  he  had  sought 
to  make  his  way  out  to  meet  his  lady  love.  By 
means  of  a  ladder  and  a  path  which  he  had 
discovered,  he  had  made  his  way  up  and  down 
the  cliffs  by  night  until  he  was  perfectly  famil- 
iar with  the  way.  He  now  offered  to  use  this 
knowledge  to  lead  a  band  of  thirty  men  up  to 
the  base  of  the  walls. 


Edinburgh  Castle  203 


Volunteers  were  quickly  found,  though  the 
way  was,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  says,  "  fitter  for 
a  eat  than  for  a  man  to  traverse."  The  night 
was  moonless  and  starless,  windy,  and  bitter 
cold,  —  a  night  to  make  the  sentinels  cower 
under  the  shelter  of  the  battlements,  while  the 
whistling  of  the  blast  would  drown  any  noise 
made  by  the  climbers.  Fortunately,  their  path 
lay  on  the  sheltered  face  of  the  crag. 

Francis  went  first,  and  hooked  the  ladders 
into  place  for  the  more  heavily  armed  men 
behind.  Sometimes  they  had  to  traverse  a 
horizontal  ledge.  The  ladders  were  then  car- 
ried on  the  outside,  serving  as  a  kind  of  balus- 
trade to  prevent  an  unlucky  slip  from  hurling 
a  man  to  death  far  below.  Finally  they 
reached  a  broad  flat  ledge  near  the  top,  where 
they  paused  to  rest  and  await  the  changing 
of  the  watch.  Some  sentinel,  presumably  as 
a  joke,  or  perhaps  to  prove  to  the  approach- 
ing patrol  that  he  was  awake,  suddenly  called 
out,  "Aha!  I  see  you  well!"  and  cast  over 
a  great  rock,  which  passed  close  to  the  cower- 
ing band,  and  thundered  from  ledge  to  ledge 
until  it  reached  the  bottom.  Not  knowing 
whether  they  were  discovered  or  not,  they 
crouched  in  their  cramped  position,  gnawed  by 


204    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  bitter  cold,  until  the  patrol  had  long 
passed,  and  all  was  quiet  above. 

Then  they  nerved  themselves  for  the  last 
portion  of  their  tremendous  climb.  A  few 
more  feet  over  the  sloping  rocks  brought  them 
to  the  base  of  the  walls,  more  than  two  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  plain.  The  towering  bul- 
warks were  far  too  high  for  their  ladders. 
Thrice  the  length  was  necessary.  Finally  they 
found  a  spot  where  two  bound  together  en- 
abled a  man  to  grasp  the  top  of  the  parapet. 
Strong  and  willing  hands  supported  the  un- 
steady ladders;  dark  forms  stealthily  clam- 
bered to  the  top.  Claymore  in  hand,  and  dirk 
between  his  teeth,  Francis  was  first  on  the 
parapet,  with  Sir  Andrew  Gray  and  Earl 
Randolph  close  behind.  In  a  moment  a  dozen 
men  had  swarmed  over  the  battlements.  The 
bewildered  sentinel  barely  could  scream 
"  Treason!  "  before  a  claymore  stilled  his  cries. 
The  alarm  was  given,  however,  and  the  Scotch 
battle  cry,  "A  Randolph!  A  Moray!  Clay- 
more, claymore,  ho!"  warned  Blantyre  with- 
out the  gates  to  be  ready. 

As  the  Scots  clambered  from  the  walls  and 
rushed  across  the  court  toward  the  guard  room 
and  the  gates,  the  constable  and  his  guard 
opposed  them.    The  struggle  was  fierce,  but 


Edinburgh  Castle  205 


short.  Wilton  fell  at  the  head  of  his  men,  who 
were  bewildered  and  stupefied  by  the  attack 
by  a  band  whose  strength  they  did  not  know. 
They  broke  and  allowed  Sir  Andrew  Gray  to 
reach  and  open  the  gates,  and  Blantyre  en- 
tered with  a  force  so  large  as  to  speedily  quell 
all  opposition.  Thus  was  successfully  carried 
out  one  of  the  bravest  and  most  difficult  sur- 
prises in  all  the  history  of  sieges. 

Bruce  adopted  toward  Edinburgh  his  his- 
torical policy,  and  stripped  it  of  all  defences, 
that  it  might  not  shelter  the  English  if  they 
came  that  way  again.  In  fact  nine  years  later 
Edward  II  returned  to  Edinburgh,  and  sacked 
Holyrood  Abbey;  but  was  compelled  to  re- 
treat, as  there  was  no  castle  left  to  protect  him 
from  the  harassing  bands  of  the  Scotch.  In 
1326  Robert  Bruce  held  parliament  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  two  years  later  another  parliament 
was  called,  famous  for  first  seating  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  burghs,  and  for  ratifying  the 
treaty  with  Edward  III  which  confirmed  the 
independence  of  Scotland. 

In  1334  Edward  Baliol,  usurper  and  vassal 
of  Edward,  convoked  a  parliament  in  Holy- 
rood,  which  agreed  to  surrender  to  the  Eng- 
lish all  of  Edinburghshire.  Guy,  Count  of 
Namur,  was  sent  with  an  army  to  take  posses- 


206    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


sion  for  Edward,  but  the  Earl  of  Moray  de- 
feated him  on  the  Borough  Moor,  chased  his 
army  headlong  into  Edinburgh,  slaughtered 
great  part  of  it  in  the  narrow  lanes  and  wynds, 
and  drove  the  remnant  to  precarious  shelter  on 
the  bare  castle  rock. 

In  1337  Edward  III  penetrated  as  far  north 
as  Perth,  and  on  his  return  rebuilt  Edinburgh 
Castle,  and  placed  in  it  a  strong  garrison. 
Four  years  later  Sir  William  the  Douglas, 
the  Black  Knight  of  Liddesdale,  captured  the 
castle  by  as  ingenious  a  stratagem  as  ever 
brave  soldier  invented  or  put  into  execution. 
The  plan  was  made  by  an  ex-priest,  William 
Bullock,  who  disguised  himself  as  a  French 
sea-captain,  and  sailed  into  the  Forth  with  a 
cargo  of  wines  and  biscuits.  He  presented 
himself  to  the  castellan,  Richard  de  Limoisne, 
and  offered  his  lading  for  sale.  The  governor 
purchased  the  whole  cargo,  and  as  the  pre- 
tended captain  seemed  to  be  very  much  afraid 
that  the  Scots  would  injure  him,  allowed  him 
to  deliver  it  early  the  next  morning. 

At  dawn  appeared  the  carts,  escorted  by 
twelve  sturdy  mariners.  The  portcullis  was 
lifted,  and  the  train  entered  the  gateway.  As 
the  first  wagon  was  under  the  portcullis,  the 
escort  upset  it  so  that  the  grating  could  not  be 


Edinburgh  Castle  207 


lowered,  and  attacked  the  guard.  A  bugle 
call  brought  the  band  of  Douglas  from  their 
ambush  hard  by,  and  a  bloody  struggle  ensued 
in  the  castle  yard.  The  garrison  was  anni- 
hilated, and  the  Scotch  banner  was  raised, 
never  to  be  lowered  again  from  Edinburgh 
Castle  until  the  union  of  the  crowns. 

David  II  was  captured  by  the  English  and 
ransomed  by  his  burghs,  with  Edinburgh  for 
the  first  time  as  chief  town,  for  one  hundred 
thousand  marks  annually.  The  town  was  thus 
becoming  prosperous,  yet  some  years  later,  in 
1384,  Froissart,  who  was  there  with  a  party 
of  French  knights,  said  that  its  four  thousand 
houses  could  not  afford  the  knights  due  ac- 
commodation. On  his  return  from  England, 
David  II  resided  in  the  castle,  and  completed 
the  restoration  begun  at  the  orders  of  Ed- 
ward III.  His  architect  and  military  engi- 
neer was  John  Stuart,  Earl  of  Carrick,  af- 
terwards Robert  III,  who  was  familiar  with 
the  modes  of  fortification  then  current  in 
France.  He  built  the  lofty  tower  long  known 
as  "  David's  Tower,"  on  the  north  side  of  the 
castle  and  in  which  David  II,  the  last  king  of 
Bruce's  line,  died  in  1370.  Carrick's  work 
made  the  castle  so  impregnable  that  neither 


208    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Richard  II  nor  Henry  IV  was  able  to  reduce 
it  by  siege. 

Robert  II,  David's  nephew,  the  first  of  the 
Stuart  kings,  made  Edinburgh  the  capital  of 
his  kingdom.  It  was  yet  a  mean  town,  built 
of  cheap  materials.  It  was  open  to  assault 
from  Border  raiders,  and  often  the  bale-fire's 
gleam  warned  the  citizens  that  their  safety  lay 
in  flight.  Then,  packing  up  their  goods,  they 
retreated  with  their  famiUes  and  cattle  to  a 
more  secure  place,  often  removing  even  the 
straw  thatch  of  their  houses  to  save  them  from 
conflagration.  When  the  enemy  retired  in  dis- 
gust from  the  shell  of  a  to^vn  which  was  left, 
they  had  repaired  damages  almost  before  he 
was  across  the  Tweed. 

On  account  of  such  invasions,  in  1383  all 
respectable  burghers  were  granted  permission 
to  build  themselves  houses  within  the  castle 
walls,  but  this  was  so  inconvenient  that  few 
took  advantage  of  it.  Two  years  later  the 
burghers  regretted  it,  for  Lancaster  invaded 
Scotland  and  laid  the  city,  including  Holyrood 
and  St.  Giles,  in  ashes.  For  five  days  his 
troops  raged  through  the  town  and  thundered 
at  the  gates  of  the  castle,  but  the  Duke  of 
Rothesay,  heir-apparent,  successfully  defended 
it.   In  1383  the  castle  had  seen  the  ambassador 


Edinburgh  Castle  209 


of  France  entertained  by  the  first  Stuart  king, 
and  the  league  of  perpetual  amity,  entered 
into  a  century  before,  formally  renewed. 

Seven  years  later,  when  Robert  III  suc- 
ceeded his  father,  the  ambassadors  of  Charles 
VI  once  more  came  to  Scotland  and  renewed 
the  treaty  of  1383.  Henry  IV,  at  whom  this 
league  was  aimed,  answered  by  reviving  his 
claim  to  suzerainty  over  Scotland,  and  formed 
an  army  to  enforce  it.  In  1400  he  laid  siege 
to  the  castle.  The  Scots  laid  the  country  waste 
about  him,  and  privation  and  the  approach  of 
winter  forced  him  to  raise  the  siege  inglori- 
ously,  and  retreat,  pursued  far  into  his  own 
dominions  by  a  harassing  but  invisible  foe. 

Robert  III  loved  Edinburgh,  and  resided 
almost  wholly  either  in  its  castle  or  its  abbey. 
The  mysterious  death  of  his  heir,  the  Duke  of 
Rothesay,  and  the  capture  of  his  second  son 
James  by  the  English,  while  travelling  to 
France,  broke  his  heart,  and  he  died  in  far- 
away Bute,  leaving  Scotland  to  a  regency, 
with  its  monarch  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of 
his  hereditary  enemies. 

During  the  regency  of  Albany,  and  the 
reign  of  James  I,  Edinburgh  and  its  castle 
were  little  regarded  by  those  in  power. 
James  I  lived  mostly  at  Perth.    With  the 


210    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


accession  of  James  II,  however,  the  city 
became  the  chief  place  of  Scotland,  its  claims 
as  capital  never  again  to  be  disputed.  He  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  castle,  and  had  a  deep 
affection  for  it.  From  the  castle  he  was  led 
solemnly  by  the  Lords  of  Parliament  to  the 
altar  of  Holyrood  to  be  cro\TOed.  When  he 
went  back  there,  guarded  by  the  Earl  of 
Douglas,  Duke  of  Touraine  in  France,  and 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Scotland,  on  one  side, 
and  by  the  Lord  Chancellor  Crichton  and  the 
Regent  Livingstone  on  the  other,  it  was  vir- 
tually as  a  prisoner.  Whichever  lord  could 
control  the  person  of  the  seven-year-old  boy 
could  practically  rule  Scotland. 

For  two  years  Crichton  held  the  control. 
But  when  he  refused  to  allow  either  the  queen- 
mother,  guardian  of  the  king,  or  the  Regent 
Livingstone  to  see  the  boy,  and  began  to  rule 
despotically  in  his  name,  a  change  occurred. 
The  wily  queen  pretended  to  quarrel  with 
Livingstone,  and  sought  the  protection  of 
Crichton  in  the  castle.  There  she  lived  for 
several  weeks.  Then  she  bade  the  chancellor 
farewell,  saying  that  she  was  going  to  White- 
kirk  to  redeem  a  vow,  and  tenderly  commit- 
ting the  young  king  to  his  care.  But  when  she 
left  the  castle  early  the  next  morning,  the  little 


Edinburgh  Castle  211 


king  was  safely  packed  in  a  chest  on  one  of 
her  baggage  horses,  and  was  shipped  from 
Leith  to  Stirling,  where  Livingstone  was  wait- 
ing. 

Regent,  king  and  queen  soon  returned  to 
Edinburgh  and  besieged  the  castle.  Crichton 
saw  that  he  was  no  match  for  the  three  and 
surrendered,  on  condition  of  keeping  his  of- 
fices of  chancellor  and  governor  of  the  castle. 
Livingstone  carried  off  his  king  to  Stirling 
and  proceeded  to  act  much  as  Crichton  had; 
so  that  the  queen  soon  stole  her  son  again 
while  he  was  hunting  and  fled  to  Crichton. 
Livingstone,  infuriated,  followed  with  his 
forces.  Civil  war  was  imminent,  but  some  of 
the  bishops  succeeded  in  reconciling  the  two 
in  the  Church  of  St.  Giles,  on  the  basis  of 
making  common  war  against  the  Douglases. 

The  great  earl,  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Scotland,  and  more  powerful  in  wealth  and 
vassals  than  the  king  himself,  had  just  died, 
leaving  two  sons.  William,  the  elder,  chose 
to  markedly  resent  the  fact  that  he  had  not 
been  raised  to  his  father's  office.  He  displayed 
the  most  superb  arrogance,  never  riding  to 
Edinburgh  save  with  a  retinue  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred mail-clad  warriors,  and  sending  two  am- 
bassadors to  France  to  secure  for  him  his  title 


212    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


to  the  Duchy  of  Touraine.  As  the  privilege 
of  sending  embassies  was  strictly  a  royal  pre- 
rogative, the  chancellor  and  the  regent  saw 
in  this  presumptuous  youngling  an  enemy  to 
the  throne,  and  laid  plans  for  his  undoing. 

They  invited  him  to  come  to  Edinburgh  to 
join  in  counsel  for  the  realm  with  them.  At 
Crichton  Castle  he  received  lordly  entertain- 
ment, but  also  warnings  from  his  friends  not 
to  put  all  the  Douglas  eggs  in  one  basket,  by 
taking  his  brother  David  to  Edinburgh.  He 
resented  the  suggestion,  and  the  two  youths 
marched  into  Edinburgh. 

They  were  conducted  to  the  castle,  but  their 
train  was  excluded  for  lack  of  room  to  enter- 
tain it.  They  were  well  received  in  the  fortress, 
and  the  king  was  charmed  with  his  young 
guests.  The  feast  was  set  forth,  and  every- 
body was  happy  mitil  it  was  time  for  the  prin- 
cipal course  to  be  served.  Then,  to  the  horror 
and  consternation  of  both  the  king  and  his 
guests,  there  was  set  upon  the  table  the  head 
of  a  black  bull.  This,  an  ancient  Scottish 
custom,  doomed  to  death  the  principal  guest. 
The  unfortunate  boys,  seeing  that  they  were 
betrayed,  drew  their  swords,  but  were  speed- 
ily overpowered  by  Crichton's  vassals,  who 
swarmed  in.    They  were  hurried  to  the  "  back 


Edinburgh  Castle  213 


court  of  the  castle  which  lyeth  to  the  wast," 
and  pronounced  traitors  by  a  mock  court  which 
was  hastily  made  up.  When  they  were  sen- 
tenced to  be  beheaded,  the  king  protested  most 
vehemently,  and  drew  his  sword  to  defend 
them,  but  Crichton  told  him  coldly  that  either 
he  or  they  must  die,  as  there  was  not  room 
in  Scotland  for  both  a  Stuart  and  a  Douglas. 
Then  the  headsman's  axe  was  stained  with 
youthful  blood,  and  the  most  horrible  tragedy 
of  the  castle  was  perpetrated.  The  effect  on 
the  popular  mind  may  be  read  in  the  words 
of  the  ballad :  — 

"  Edinburgh  Castle,  town,  and  tower, 
God  grant  thou  sink  for  sin, 
And  that  even  for  the  black  dinner 
Earl  Douglas  gat  therein." 

No  attempt  was  ever  made  to  avenge  this 
fearful  outrage,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
James  the  Gross,  great-uncle  of  the  earl,  and 
his  heir,  was  privy  to  the  crime.  He  was  soon 
succeeded  by  his  son,  who  formed  an  alliance 
with  Livingstone  to  destroy  Crichton  and  steal 
the  king.  But  Crichton,  safe  behind  the  cas- 
tle's walls,  not  only  laughed  at  their  siege,  but 
sallied  forth  and  inflicted  great  losses  on  them. 
When  he  did  finally  surrender  to  the  king 


214    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


himself,  the  terms  involved  his  restoration  to 
his  office  and  the  royal  favour. 

When  the  king  attained  his  majority,  he  was 
married  with  great  pomp,  in  which  all  factions 
joined,  to  JNIary  of  Gueldres.  After  his  mar- 
riage, he  defended  his  city  and  castle  by  the 
first  city  wall,  of  which  only  the  Wellhouse 
Tower,  at  the  northern  foot  of  the  Castle 
Rock,  now  remains.  As  a  further  protection 
to  the  castle,  he  destroyed  King  David's  gar- 
dens, and  made  the  Nor'  or  Xorth  Loch,  an 
artificial  lake  extending  along  the  whole  north- 
ern base  of  the  rock,  both  wide  and  deep. 

The  next  unusual  event  in  the  history  of  the 
castle  occurred  in  the  reign  of  James  III. 
The  king  allowed  himself  to  be  deluded  by  an 
astrologer  into  believing  that  his  two  brothers, 
the  Duke  of  Albany  and  the  Earl  of  IVIar, 
were  about  to  compass  his  death.  The  one  was 
imprisoned  in  Edinburgh  Castle,  the  other  in 
Craigmillar.  Mar  was  soon  brought  to  a 
house  in  the  Canongate,  as  he  was  ill  of  a 
fever,  and  being  bled  by  the  king's  own  physi- 
cian, he  was  thereafter  found  dead  in  a  warm 
bath,  his  wound  having  burst  open  and  left 
him  too  weak  to  call  for  help. 

Albany  was  more  fortunate.  He  was  com- 
mitted to  King  David's  Tower,  and  his  ward- 


Edinburgh  Castle  215 


ers  were  informed  that  his  escape  would  mean 
their  death.  Nevertheless,  his  friends  man- 
aged to  inform  him  that  a  French  vessel  was 
waiting  for  him  at  Leith.  From  this  they 
sent  him  as  presents  two  casks  of  Gascon  wine, 
in  one  of  which  was  a  rope,  and  a  waxen  roll 
containing  a  letter.  This  informed  him  that 
"  the  king's  minions  had  resolved  he  should 
die  ere  to-morrow's  sun  set."  Albany  invited 
the  officers  of  the  guard  to  sup  with  him,  and 
made  them  all  drunk.  This  end  achieved,  he 
seized  the  captain's  dagger  from  his  belt,  and 
dispatched  all  four  of  his  captors.  Though  he 
had  gained  in  France  the  title  of  "  Father  of 
Chivalry,"  he  treated  most  barbarously  the 
corpses  of  his  enemies.  With  the  assistance  of 
his  attendant  he  threw  all  the  bodies  into  the 
fire  which  blazed  high  in  the  great  fireplace, 
"  and  there  in  their  armour  they  broiled  and 
sweltered  like  tortoises  in  iron  shells." 

He  had  previously  secured  the  keys  of  the 
tower,  and  locked  all  the  external  doors.  The 
rope  was  made  fast  to  the  top  of  the  tower, 
and  the  attendant  insisted  on  going  down  first. 
As  the  rope  was  twenty  feet  too  short,  he  fell 
and  broke  his  leg.  Albany  heard  his  groans, 
and  rushed  back  for  the  sheets  of  his  bed, 
which  he  tied  to  the  rope,  and  came  safely  to 


216    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  ground.  There  he  found  the  hapless  at- 
tendant, raised  him  on  his  shoulders,  and  car- 
ried him  all  the  way  to  Leith,  whence  they 
took  ship  to  Dunbar  and  thence  to  France. 
Meanwhile  the  awful  stench  from  the  burning 
bodies  had  caused  the  tower  to  be  broken  into, 
but  the  prisoner  was  beyond  recapture. 

Albany  now  proved  himself  a  traitor  in- 
deed, by  bargaining  with  Edward  IV  to  hold 
Scotland  of  him  if  assisted  to  gain  the  crown. 
James  set  out  with  an  army  to  meet  the  Eng- 
lish, but  took  all  his  favourites  with  him.  His 
principal  nobles  took  matters  in  their  own 
hands,  hanged  the  favourites,  and  committed 
James  to  Edinburgh  Castle  as  a  prisoner. 
The  Dukes  of  Gloucester  and  Albany,  meet- 
ing no  resistance,  entered  Edinburgh,  and 
Gloucester  spared  the  town  at  Albany's  en- 
treaties, "  only  taking  such  presents  as  the 
merchants  genteelly  offered  him."  Gloucester 
signed  a  treaty  most  unfair  to  his  brother,  by 
which  Albany  acknowledged  James's  author- 
ity, and  was  pardoned,  and  also  made  Lieu- 
tenant-General  and  Earl  of  Mar.  James  was 
released  from  his  imprisonment,  but  Albany 
immediately  sent  to  England  and  renewed  his 
contract  of  the  previous  year,  using  as  a  mes- 
senger Angus,  "  Bell-the-Cat."    James  again 


Edinburgh  Castle  217 


retired  to  the  castle,  and  by  the  help  of  the 
citizens,  was  saved  from  danger.  Albany  and 
his  allies  were  outlawed.  But  a  few  years 
later,  another  conspiracy  drove  James  north 
from  Edinburgh  to  death  at  Sauchieburn. 

In  the  troublous  minority  of  James  V  the 
castle  was  alternately  a  refuge  and  a  prison 
for  him,  while  unruly  nobles  strove  for  the 
command  of  the  government,  but  the  history 
of  the  castle  for  many  years  is  almost  devoid 
of  interest.  It  twice  successfully  resisted  the 
attacks  of  the  English  under  Hertford  and 
Somerset,  when  the  town  was  burnt  and 
sacked,  in  1544  and  1547. 

In  1560  the  Regent,  Mary  of  Guise,  died  in 
the  castle,  and  her  body,  wrapped  in  lead,  lay 
there  for  some  months  before  it  was  conveyed 
to  France. 

Less  than  a  year  afterward  Mary  Stuart 
decided  to  return  to  Scotland,  her  husband  the 
Dauphin  having  died.  In  August,  1561,  she 
arrived  at  Leith,  and  three  days  later  made 
her  entry  to  her  capital.  For  the  first  time 
she  saw  her  great  rock-borne  castle,  and  that 
day  she  dined  there.  Thereafter  she  often 
resided  there,  and  after  her  marriage  to  Darn- 
ley,  and  the  murder  of  Rizzio,  she  took  up  her 
residence  in  the  castle  for  security.    Here,  on 


218    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


June  19th,  1566,  was  born  her  son,  James  VI 
of  Scotland  and  I  of  England. 

Darnley  was  at  this  time  residing  in  the 
castle,  apparently  on  the  most  amicable  terms 
with  his  wife,  and  on  this  occasion  he  sent  the 
following  letter  to  the  Cardinal  de  Guise:  — 

"  From  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh,  19th  day 
of  June,  1566,  in  great  haste:  — 
"  Sir  —  my  Uncle, 

"  Having  so  favourable  an  opportunity  of 
writing  to  you  by  this  gentleman,  who  is  on 
the  point  of  setting  off,  I  would  not  omit  to 
inform  you  that  the  Queen  my  vrife  has  just 
been  delivered  of  a  son,  which  circumstance,  I 
am  sure,  ^^^11  not  cause  you  less  joy  than  our- 
selves; and  also  to  inform  you  how,  on  this 
occasion,  I  have  on  my  part  —  as  the  Queen 
my  said  wife  has  also  on  hers  —  written  to  the 
King,  begging  him  to  be  pleased  to  oblige  and 
honour  us  by  standing  as  sponsor  for  him,  by 
which  means  he  will  increase  the  debt  of  grat- 
itude I  owe  him  for  all  his  favours  to  me,  for 
which  I  shall  always  be  ready  to  make  any 
return  in  my  power. 

"  So,  having  nothing  more  agreeable  to  in- 
form you  of  at  present,  I  conclude,  praying 


Edinburgh  Castle  219 


God,  Monsieur  my  uncle,  to  have  you  always 
in  His  holy  and  worthy  keeping. 

"  Your  very  humble  and  obedient  Nephew, 

"  Henry  R. 

"  Please  to  present  my  commendations  to 
Madame  the  Dowager  de  Guise." 

The  little  room  in  which  James  was  born  is 
still  shown  in  Edinburgh  Castle;  like  all  the 
rooms  shown  as  abiding  places  of  Mary,  it  is 
of  extremely  small  dimensions. 

Very  little  of  Mary's  tragic  history  is  associ- 
ated with  the  Castle  of  Edinburgh.  She  pre- 
ferred Holyrood,  when  she  was  not  visiting  in 
other  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

After  Mary's  escape  in  1568,  Kirkcaldy  of 
Grange  seized  the  castle  in  her  behalf,  and  held 
it  for  three  years.  The  town  was  bombarded, 
and  the  attacks  of  the  various  regents  who 
followed  each  other  in  quick  succession  had 
little  effect.  At  last  Elizabeth  sent  Sir  Will- 
iam Drury,  with  a  siege  battery  and  a  well 
equipped  force,  to  reduce  the  castle.  Kirk- 
caldy had  supplied  himself  with  provisions  by 
an  underground  passage  into  the  town,  but  this 
had  been  discovered  and  blown  up  some  time 
before,  so  that  he  was  already  short  of  pro- 


220    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


visions  when  the  siege  commenced.  He  might 
have  surrendered  on  easy  terms;  the  dying 
John  Knox  had  sent  him  a  letter  of  prophetic 
warning;  but  he  waited  in  hope  of  rehef  from 
France. 

Batteries  were  erected  all  around  him,  but 
he  held  out  for  thirty-three  days.  One  by  one 
the  towers  fell,  the  walls  crumbled,  the  wells 
were  choked.  Provisions  gave  out,  and  finally 
the  garrison  mutinied.  Kirkcaldy  sued  for 
terms;  receiving  the  promise  of  favourable 
treatment,  he  surrendered,  and  was  hanged  at 
the  town  cross.  His  companion,  Maitland  of 
Lethington,  Mary's  secretary,  had  preferred 
suicide  to  the  mercy  of  Elizabeth.  The  castle 
was  so  ruinous  that  James  never  lived  there, 
preferring  Holyrood. 

In  the  reign  of  Charles  I  the  castle  was  still 
in  ruins,  so  that  he  did  not  visit  it  when  mak- 
ing his  progress.  Six  years  later  he  sent  a 
command  to  the  citizens  to  put  the  castle  into 
a  good  state  of  defence,  but  they  voted  fifty 
thousand  pounds  Scots  to  aid  the  Covenanters 
in  besieging  it,  and  it  was  forced  to  surrender 
to  General  Leslie. 

Cromwell  besieged  the  castle  in  1650,  and 
after  two  months'  resistance  it  honourably  ca- 
pitulated.  At  the  Revolution  it  was  held  for 


Edinburgh  Castle  221 


James  VII  by  the  Duke  of  Gordon.  At  the 
RebelHon  of  1715,  the  insurgents  made  an  at- 
tempt to  capture  it  by  surprise,  but  failed. 
Prince  Charles  Edward,  in  1745,  although  he 
occupied  the  city,  made  no  attempt  to  get  pos- 
session of  the  castle,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
it  bombarded  the  city,  because  of  his  presence. 

Since  the  union  of  the  crowns  the  castle 
has  been  kept  in  good  repair,  this  being  guar- 
anteed by  the  terms  of  the  document.  The 
only  event  of  historical  importance  was  the 
discovery  of  the  regalia  of  Scotland  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott,  which  will  be  described  later. 


CHAPTER  X 


EDINBURGH  CASTLE 

(Continued) 

The  usual  approach  to  the  Castle  of  Edin- 
burgh is  from  the  Princes  Street  side,  crossing 
the  valley  of  the  beautiful  gardens,  once  the 
Nor'  Loch,  by  the  Mound  or  Waverley  Street 
Bridge.  Both  routes  lead  into  the  Castlehill, 
from  which  we  enter  the  Esplanade  in  front 
of  the  castle. 

Here  was  of  old  the  place  of  execution  for 
witchcraft,  a  bloodstained  spot  where,  during 
the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centu- 
ries, no  less  than  two  thousand  persons  were 
"  worryit  at  the  stake."  This  process  implies 
strangling  and  burning,  and  was  inflicted  on 
the  most  slender  evidence.  Frequently  a  dozen 
persons  suffered  at  once,  and  the  victims  in- 
cluded those  of  all  ranks  and  stations.  Natu- 
rally, here  as  elsewhere,  the  old,  the  ill-tem- 
pered, the  invalid,  the  ugly  or  useless  man  or 

222 


Edinburgh  Castle  223 


woman  was  the  usual  sufferer,  but  the  highest 
of  Scotland  were  not  exempt.  Lady  Jane 
Douglas,  young  and  beautiful,  faithful  to  the 
memory  of  her  dead  husband,  John,  Earl  of 
Glamis,  was  revengefully  accused  by  a  re- 
jected suitor  of  attempting  to  compass  the 
death  of  the  king  by  witchcraft,  convicted,  and 
here  burned  alive. 

James  VI  took  a  great  interest  in  the  witch- 
craft trials,  and  even  applied  the  torture  with 
his  own  hands.  In  1590-1  an  unfortunate 
maid-servant  was  tortured  by  her  master,  and 
confessed  that  she  and  several  others  whom 
she  named  were  guilty.  They  were  all  tried, 
condemned  and  burnt  on  the  Castlehill.  One 
of  them,  Agnes  Sampson,  told  the  story  of  her 
intercourse  with  the  devil  as  follows: 

"  The  devil  in  man's  likeness  met  her  going 
out  into  the  fields  from  her  own  house  in 
Keith,  between  five  or  sax  at  even,  being 
alone,  and  commanded  her  to  be  at  North  Ber- 
wick kirk  the  next  night.  She  passed  there  on 
horseback  and  lighted  down  at  the  kirkyard. 
A  little  before  she  came  to  it,  about  eleven 
hours  at  even,  she  and  others  danced  alang  the 
kirkyard;  Geilie  Duncan  playing  to  them  on 
a  trump,  John  Fian  missalit  (masked)  led  all 
the  rest,  the  said  Agnes  and  her  daughter  fol- 


224    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


lowed  next,  and  some  others,  in  all  about  ane 
hundred  persons,  whereof  sax  were  men,  and 
all  the  rest  women.  The  women  first  made 
their  homage,  then  the  men.  The  men  turned 
nine  times  withershins  about  {i.  e.  counter- 
clockwise) .  The  witches  then  took  hands  and 
danced  a  reel  to  the  music  of  Geilie  Duncan's 
Jew's  trump,  singing  the  while  — 

"  *  Cummer,  go  ye  before,  Cummer  go  ye, 
Gif  ye  will  not  go  before,  Cummer  let  me/ 

"  John  Fian  touched  the  doors  with  his  staff 
and  they  opened ;  he  then  with  his  breath  blew 
in  the  lights,  which  were  like  muckle  black 
candles  sticking  round  the  pulpit.  The  devil 
then  started  up  in  the  pulpit,  like  ane  muckle 
black  man,  and  callit  everyane  by  his  or  her 
name,  and  they  answered,  *  Here,  Master.' 
.  .  .  On  his  command  they  openit  up  the 
graves,  two  within  and  ane  without  the  kirk, 
and  cut  off  the  joints  of  the  fingers,  toes  and 
knees  of  the  dead,  and  partit  them  amang 
them,  so  that  having  ground  them  to  a  powder 
they  might  work  mischief  therewith.  They 
also  put  to  sea  on  the  day  James  was  expected 
back  from  Denmark  with  his  bride,  and  threw 
a  cat  into  the  water,  pronouncing  at  the  same 


Edinburgh  Castle 


225 


time  an  invocation  to  the  devil.  This  was  in- 
tended to  raise  such  a  storm  that  the  vessel 
would  be  wrecked  and  the  king  drowned. 
[James  stated  that  he  could  vouch  for  the 
truth  of  this,  for  his  vessel  had  been  greatly 
troubled  by  storms  and  contrary  winds,  while 
the  other  vessels  of  the  fleet  were  bowling 
along  before  a  favourable  wind.]  The  witches 
added  that  they  asked  the  devil  why  they  could 
not  work  the  king  any  evil.  And  the  Prince 
of  Darkness  replied,  '  Because  he  is  such  a 
good  man,  I  have  no  power  over  him.  He 
is  my  greatest  enemy.'  " 

The  king  regarded  this  statement  as  a  high 
compliment,  but  it  did  not  mollify  him  enough 
to  prevent  the  unfortunate  woman  from  being 
burned  on  the  Castlehill. 

The  space  before  the  castle,  the  Esplanade, 
was,  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries,  a  favourite  promenade  of  the  citi- 
zens of  the  town.  It  was  not  levelled  until 
1753,  when  the  earth  excavated  from  the  foun- 
dations of  the  Royal  Exchange  was  employed 
to  remedy  the  former  inequalities  of  the  hill- 
side. The  walls  and  railings  were  added  about 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  con- 
tains two  monuments,  one  to  the  Field  Mar- 
shal the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany,  the  other 


226    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


in  memory  of  members  of  the  78th  Ross-shire 
Highlanders  who  fell  in  the  Indian  Mutiny. 

Before  entering  the  castle  we  may  recall 
that  the  Castlehill  possesses  a  certain  interest 
to  students  of  American  history,  because  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Charles  I  it  was  officially  a 
part  of  the  province  of  Nova  Scotia.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1621,  Sir  William  Alexander,  who 
later  became  Earl  of  Stirling,  was  granted  by 
James  VI  a  charter  which  conferred  upon  him 
and  his  successors  most  of  what  is  now  the 
northern  United  States  and  Canada,  as  well 
as  the  adjacent  islands.  This  charter  con- 
ferred on  him  almost  royal  authority  over  a 
country  two  or  three  times  as  large  as  the 
whole  realm  of  Great  Britain.  Besides  giving 
him  the  proprietorship  of  the  land  and  all  its 
products,  the  charter  allowed  him  to  appoint 
legal  tribunals,  coin  money  and  grant  lands. 
Charles  I  renewed  the  charter  in  1625,  and 
thereupon  Alexander  began  to  create  baronets. 
From  each  he  received  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds,  in  return  for  which  he  transferred  to 
each  new  lord  a  tract  of  six  square  miles  of 
land,  with  right  of  pit  and  gallows  thereon. 
In  order  that  these  baronets  might  be  con- 
veniently enfeoffed  in  their  new  estates,  the 
king  issued  a  royal  mandate  declaring  the  soil 


Edinburgh  Castle  227 


of  the  Castlehill  to  be  that  of  Nova  Scotia. 
In  the  ensuing  twenty-five  years,  sixty-four 
American  baronets  took  seizin  on  this  spot. 
But  this,  the  first  attempt  to  create  a  heredi- 
tary American  aristocracy,  met  with  httle  suc- 
cess. 

To  enter  the  castle  we  must  cross  the  old 
moat,  which  was  formerly  filled  with  water 
from  the  Nor'  Loch.  It  is  now  dry  and  laid 
out  for  recreation  groimds.  The  gateway  is 
modern,  but  contains  an  ancient  door  im- 
pressively studded  with  iron  bolts.  This  is 
known  as  the  Outer  Port.  The  cobbled  road 
leads  under  the  rock  wall  on  the  left,  and 
passes  through  the  Portcullis  Gate  in  the  base 
of  the  Argyle  Tower.  This  sht  in  which  the 
iron  grate  descended  is  still  to  be  seen. 

The  Argyle  Tower  is  possibly  the  one 
formerly  known  as  St.  David's  Tower,  which 
was  battered  to  pieces  during  the  siege  of  1573, 
when  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  upheld  the  cause 
of  Mary.  The  walls  are  of  enormous  thick- 
ness and  show  under  the  later  ashlar  work 
masonry  of  great  antiquity,  so  that  Blanc  con- 
siders this  undoubtedly  some  of  David's  work. 
Other  authorities,  however,  place  David's 
Tower  about  in  the  centre  of  the  Half  Moon 
Battery,  just  within  and  above  the  Outer  Port. 


228    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  present  name  of  the  tower  comes  from 
the  two  Argyles,  father  and  son,  one  of  whom 
was  imprisoned  here  in  1661,  the  other  in  1685. 
Both  were  executed  for  their  religious  prin- 
ciples. The  last  day  of  the  younger  Argyle 
has  been  commemorated  by  a  great  fresco  in 
the  lobby  of  the  House  of  Commons  in  Lon- 
don, based  on  the  following  description  by 
Macaulay :  — 

"So  effectually  had  religious  faith  and  hope, 
co-operating  with  natural  courage  and  equa- 
nimity, composed  his  spirits  that  on  the  very 
day  on  which  he  was  to  die,  he  dined  with  appe- 
tite, conversed  with  gaiety  at  table,  and  after 
his  last  meal,  lay  down,  as  he  was  wont,  to 
take  a  short  slumber,  in  order  that  his  body 
and  mind  might  be  in  full  vigour  when  he 
should  mount  the  scaffold.  At  this  time  one 
of  the  lords  of  the  council  (supposed  to  have 
been  Middleton),  who  had  probably  been  bred 
a  Presbyterian,  and  had  been  seduced  by  in- 
terest to  join  in  oppressing  the  church  of 
which  he  had  once  been  a  member,  came  to 
the  castle  with  a  message  from  his  brethren 
and  demanded  to  see  the  earl.  It  was  an- 
swered that  the  earl  was  asleep.  The  privy 
councillor  thought  that  this  was  a  subterfuge 
and  insisted  on  entering.   The  door  of  the  cell 


Edinburgh  Castle  229 


was  softly  opened,  and  there  lay  Argyle  on 
the  bed,  sleeping  in  his  irons,  the  placid  sleep 
of  infancy.  The  conscience  of  the  renegade 
smote  him.  He  turned  away,  sick  at  heart, 
ran  out  of  the  castle,  and  took  refuge  in  the 
dwelling  of  a  lady  of  his  family  who  lived 
hard  by.  There  he  flung  himself  on  a  couch 
and  gave  himself  up  to  an  agony  of  remorse 
and  shame.  His  kinswoman,  alarmed  by  his 
looks  and  groans  .  .  .  prayed  him  to  tell  her 
what  had  disheartened  him.  He  replied,  *  I 
have  seen  Argyle  within  an  hour  of  eternity 
sleeping  as  sweetly  as  ever  man  did.  But  as 
for  me— 

Passing  through  the  archway  of  the  Argyle 
Tower,  we  see  on  the  left  a  staircase,  formerly 
the  only  means  of  access  to  the  citadel,  which 
may  now  be  more  easily  reached  by  the  broad 
roadway  which  circles  around  the  base  of  the 
upper  platform.  On  the  right  of  this  road- 
way is  first  the  Argyle  battery,  and  then  vari- 
ous buildings  pertaining  to  the  internal  econ- 
omy of  the  garrison.  Behind  them  on  the  west 
side  is  the  location  of  the  old  sallyport  through 
which  the  body  of  St.  Margaret  was  conveyed, 
and  up  to  which  Dundee  climbed  in  1689  for 
his  historic  conference  with  the  Duke  of  Gor- 
don, governor  of  the  castle,  on  the  possibility 


230    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  raising  the  Highland  clans  m  support  of 
the  deposed  James.  A  tablet  over  the  postern 
records  this  inter^iiew. 

Following  the  roadway  we  reach  the  upper 
platform,  on  which  are  the  parts  of  the  castle 
open  to  the  pubhc.  Inmiediately  before  us  is 
the  old  bomb  battery,  from  which  a  most  ex- 
tensive prospect  is  visible  in  clear  weather. 
The  most  conspicuous  object  here  is  the  old 
cannon,  famed  as  ^lons  ]Meg.  Sir  Walter 
Scott  affii'ms  that  this  gun  was  made  by  Kim 
of  ^lollance  or  ^lons  in  Kirkcudbrightshire, 
and  presented  by  the  ^IcLellans  of  that  comity 
to  James  II,  when  he  arrived  at  Carlingwark 
in  1455,  on  his  way  to  besiege  Threave  Castle, 
belonging  to  William,  Earl  of  Douglas.  This 
story  has  been  much  disputed.  Mr.  Burnet, 
who  edited  the  Exchequer  Rolls,  thinks  it  very 
unlikely  that  a  country  smith  in  West  Scot- 
land would  be  skilled  enough  to  build  such  a 
piece  of  ordnance,  even  if  he  had  the  needful 
tools  and  apphances.  He  finds  in  the  Rolls 
proof  that  the  king  imported  his  bombards 
from  Flanders,  and  an  entry  covering  the 
expense  of  conve^-ing  the  king's  great  bom- 
bard from  Linlithgow  to  the  siege  of  Threave 
Castle.  It  therefore  seems  most  likely  that  the 
gun  was  forged  at  ^lons  in  Flanders,  as  af- 


Edinburgh  Castle  231 


firmed  in  the  inscription  on  the  gun,  though 
perhaps  earher  than  1476,  as  there  asserted. 

Whenever  it  was  made,  it  was  used  at  the 
siege  of  Dumbarton  in  1489,  when  the  treas- 
urer's books  reveal  the  payment  of  eighteen 
shillings  Scots  for  drink  money  to  the  gunners. 
It  was  again  used  in  Edinburgh  on  April  24th, 
1558,  when  the  marriage  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots,  to  the  Dauphin  was  being  celebrated. 
The  treasurer's  accounts  on  this  date  contain 
the  following  entry:  —  "  By  the  Queenis  pre- 
cept and  speciale  command  to  certain  pyonaris, 
for  their  laboris  in  the  mounting  of  Mons  furth 
of  her  lair  to  be  schote,  and  for  the  finding 
and  carrying  of  her  bullet  after  she  wes  schot, 
frae  Weirdie  mure  to  the  Castell  of  Edin- 
burgh." In  1682  the  gun  burst  while  firing 
a  salute  to  the  Duke  of  York.  In  1745  it  was 
removed  to  the  Tower  of  London,  whence  it 
was  brought  back  in  1829  on  the  prayer  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Nearby  stands  St.  Margaret's  Chapel,  the 
oldest  building  in  Edinburgh  and  the  oldest 
church  in  Scotland.  This  without  doubt  dates 
back  to  the  time  of  the  good  queen,  and  is  the 
only  building  on  the  rock  which  was  not  des- 
troyed by  Bruce.  It  is  only  twenty-eight  feet 
long  and  ten  wide,  and  is  architecturally  Early 


232    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Xorman,  with  some  Saxon  details.  The  chan- 
cel is  sixteen  feet  long,  and  is  separated  from 
the  circular  apse  by  a  wall  pierced  by  an  en- 
riched Xorman  arch.  The  chapel  has  been 
restored  in  recent  years  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  its  original  appearance.  By  tradition  it  is 
the  place  where  Edward  I  received  the  fealty 
of  the  Abbot  of  Holyrood  and  other  ecclesi- 
astics. 

On  the  right  is  the  doorway  to  the  Ai'gyle 
Tower,  from  which  the  two  noblemen  of  that 
name,  JNlarqnis  and  Earl,  went  forth  to  death. 
The  yoimger  man  was  twice  imprisoned  here, 
escaping  once,  even  as  his  father  might  have 
done,  had  not  his  courage  failed  at  the  last 
moment.  The  earl  was  visited  on  a  stormy 
night  by  his  step-daughter.  Lady  Sophia 
Lindsay  of  Balcarres,  who  came  to  bid  him 
farewell.  When  she  left,  the  earl,  disguised 
as  her  footman,  held  her  train.  At  the  outer 
gate,  the  sentinel  seized  his  arm,  and  the  agi- 
tated earl  dropped  the  train.  As  if  incensed 
with  his  clumsiness,  the  quick -T^^tted  woman 
slapped  the  muddy  train  across  his  face,  and 
the  sentinel  was  so  amused  at  the  comical  spec- 
tacle that  he  forgot  his  suspicions  and  let  them 
pass.  The  earl  escaped  to  Holland,  and  was 
not  recaptured  until  1685.    In  this  chamber 


Edinburgh  Castle  233 


also  the  wraith  of  "  bloody  Claverhouse  "  ap- 
peared to  his  comrade  and  friend,  Lord  Bal- 
carres,  on  the  night  when  Dundee  died  at 
Killiecrankie. 

Passing  the  Half  Moon  Battery,  we  enter 
the  Palace  Yard,  historically  the  most  inter- 
esting part  of  the  castle.  On  the  east  is  the 
entrance  to  the  Crown  Room,  an  oak-pan- 
elled apartment  where  are  kept  under  heavy 
bars  the  Regalia  of  Scotland.  The  crown, 
which  possibly  dates  back  to  the  time  of  Bruce, 
though  added  to  in  the  time  of  James  V,  is 
richly  adorned  with  precious  stones.  The 
sceptre  was  made  in  Paris  for  James  V,  of 
silver  gilt,  and  is  richly  adorned  with  carv- 
ings and  a  great  beryl  taken  from  an  ancient 
Egyptian  sceptre.  The  sword  of  state,  five 
feet  long,  was  presented  by  Pope  Julius  II  to 
James  IV,  together  with  the  golden  rose.  The 
collection  also  contains  the  royal  jewels  be- 
queathed by  Cardinal  York,  the  last  of  the 
Stuarts,  to  George  IV,  including  the  jewels 
of  the  Garter  and  the  Thistle  belonging  to 
James  VI  and  the  coronation  ring  of 
Charles  I. 

Oliver  Cromwell  had  the  Regalia  of  Eng- 
land destroyed  during  the  Commonwealth,  and 
the  Scotch  Privy  Council  was  apprehensive 


234    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


lest  the  same  fate  should  befall  those  of  Scot- 
land. So  they  were  sent  to  Dunnottar  Castle, 
and  afterwards  conveyed  from  there  to  safe 
concealment,  as  is  more  particularly  related 
elsewhere.  After  the  Restoration  they  came 
back  to  Edinburgh,  and  at  the  Union,  the 
Council,  fearful  lest  they  should  be  conveyed 
to  England,  ordered  them  concealed  once 
more.  They  were  placed  in  a  huge  chest  in 
one  of  the  vaults  of  the  castle,  the  door  sealed, 
and  stringent  orders  given  that  the  room 
should  never  be  opened.  There  they  remained 
for  a  hundred  years  and  ten,  and  faded  from 
the  memory  of  living  men.  The  room  was  en- 
tered in  1794,  when  certain  valuable  papers 
were  being  searched  for,  and  the  huge  chest 
shaken.  As  it  gave  forth  no  sound,  it  was 
believed  to  be  empty,  and  the  legend  that  the 
jewels  were  there  concealed  was  put  down  as 
an  idle  fable.  It  then  came  to  be  believed 
that  the  English  Government  had  had  the 
Regalia  secretly  conveyed  out  of  the  kingdom 
and  melted  down. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  made  researches  which 
convinced  him  that  there  w^as  truth  in  the  an- 
cient legend,  and  in  1818  obtained  an  order 
from  the  regent  allowing  him  to  enter  the 
Crown  Room  and  break  open  the  chest.  So, 


Edinburgh  Castle  235 


on  the  4th  of  February,  a  commission  consist- 
ing of  some  of  the  principal  officials  of  the 
kingdom,  of  which  Scott  was  a  member,  vis- 
ited the  Crown  Room  with  a  smith,  who  broke 
open  the  chest.  The  dust  was  thick  inside  the 
chest,  but  the  jewels  were  there,  wrapped  in 
a  cloth  and  uninjured.  A  salute  was  imme- 
diately fired  from  the  castle  batteries  to  com- 
municate the  good  news  to  the  populace,  and 
great  joy  was  everywhere  manifested.  They 
are  still  preserved  in  the  room  in  which  they 
were  found,  where  stands  the  chest  which  pre- 
served them  safely.  A  passage  from  Lock- 
hart  shows  Scott's  feeling  about  the  precious 
relics :  — 

"  On  the  5th  February,  Scott  and  some  of 
his  brother  commissioners  revisited  the  castle 
accompanied  by  several  of  the  ladies  of  their 
families.  His  daughter  tells  me  that  her 
father's  conversation  had  worked  her  feeHngs 
up  to  such  a  pitch  that  when  the  lid  was  again 
removed,  she  nearly  fainted  and  drew  back 
from  the  circle.  As  she  did  so  she  was  startled 
by  his  voice  exclaiming  in  a  tone  of  deepest 
emotion:  *  No,  by  God,  no!'  One  of  the 
commissioners,  not  quite  entering  into  the 
solemnity  with  which  Scott  regarded  this  busi- 
ness, had,  it  seems,  made  a  sort  of  motion  as 


236    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


if  he  meant  to  put  the  crown  upon  the  head 
of  one  of  the  young  ladies  near  him;  but  the 
voice  and  aspect  of  the  great  poet  were  more 
than  sufficient  to  make  the  worthy  gentleman 
understand  his  error." 

On  the  ground  floor  at  the  northeast  angle 
is  a  doorway,  over  which  is  the  date  1566  and 
the  initials  H  and  M,  standing  for  Henry 
Darnley  and  Mary,  father  and  mother  of 
James  VI,  who  was  born  here  in  that  year. 
These  ornaments  were  probably  inserted  by 
James  VI,  as  the  buildings  date  from  the  fif- 
teenth century.  The  queen's  mother,  INIary  of 
Guise,  died  in  this  room  in  1560.  The  most 
remarkable  thing  about  Mary's  bedroom  is  its 
small  size,  —  not  more  than  eight  feet  in  its 
longest  dimension.  In  this  it  is  like  every 
room  shown  in  any  Scotch  castle  as  a  chamber 
of  the  queen.  She  seems  to  have  had  a  fond- 
ness for  tiny  apartments,  and  according  to  the 
traditions  of  many  castles,  always  slept  on  a 
camp  bedstead  of  her  own  when  outside  her 
palace  of  Holyrood. 

The  wainscoting  of  this  room  is  older  than 
the  date  of  James's  birth,  having  been  brought 
here  from  the  Guise  Palace  in  Blyth  Close. 
The  panelled  oaken  ceiling,  with  royal  crowns 
and  the  initials  I.  R.  and  M.  R.,  remains  im- 


Edinburgh  Castle  237 


changed  from  Mary's  day.  The  famous  in- 
scription, surmounted  by  the  Scottish  arms,  is 
still  to  be  read  on  the  wall :  — 

"Lord  Jesu  Chryst,  that  crounit  was  with  Thornse, 
Preserve  the  Birth,  quhais  Badgie  heir  is  borne. 
And  send  Hir  Sonne  successione,  to  Reigne  stille, 
Lang  in  this  Bealme,  if  that  it  be  Thy  Will ; 
Als  grant,  0  Lord,  quhat  ever  of  Hir  proceed, 
Be  to  Thy  Honer,  and  Praise;  Sobied. 
19th  IVNII,  1566." 

The  south  side  of  the  quadrangle  is  occupied 
by  the  old  Parliament  or  Banqueting  Hall. 
Long  neglected,  it  has  in  recent  years  been 
restored  by  the  munificence  of  an  Edinburgh 
citizen,  WilHam  Nelson,  and  now  houses  a  fine 
collection  of  arms  and  armour.  This  was  the 
meeting-place  of  many  parliaments;  here  was 
proclaimed  king  the  six  year  old  James  II; 
here  Crichton  and  Livingstone  feasted  the 
Douglases,  when  the  fatal  Black  Bull's  Head 
ended  the  meal  with  a  sentence  of  death;  here 
banqueted  the  peers  of  Scotland  at  all  the 
coronations  down  to  the  time  of  Charles  I; 
and  here  the  Earl  of  Leven  entertained  Crom- 
well in  1648. 

From  the  windows  of  this  gallant  hall,  fair 
ladies  and  proud  knights  watched  the  tilting 


238    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


in  the  Grassmarket  below.  The  Stuart  kings 
were  very  fond  of  this  exercise,  and  such  was 
the  renown  of  the  tiltings  of  Edinburgh  that 
knights  came  from  all  parts  of  Christendom 
to  break  a  lance  with  the  kings  or  their  lords. 
Pitscottie  tells  of  a  combat  which  was  wit- 
nessed by  James  IV  in  1503  from  one  of  these 
windows :  — 

"  A  famous  cavalier  of  the  Low  Countries, 
Sir  John  Cochbevis,  challenged  the  best  knight 
in  Scotland  to  break  a  lance  or  meet  him  in 
combat  a  Voutrance.  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton  of 
the  House  of  Arran  took  up  his  challenge. 
Amid  a  vast  concourse,  they  came  to  the  bar- 
riers, lanced,  horsed  and  clad  in  tempered  mail, 
with  their  emblazoned  shields  hung  around 
their  necks.  At  sound  of  the  trumpet  they 
rushed  to  the  shock  and  splintered  their  spears 
fairly.  Fresh  ones  were  given  them,  but  as 
Hamilton's  horse  failed  him,  they  drew  their 
two-handed  swords  and  fought  on  foot.  They 
fought  thus  for  a  full  hour,  till  the  Dutchman, 
being  struck  to  the  ground,  the  king  cast  his 
plumed  bonnet  over  the  castle  wall  to  stay 
the  combat,  while  the  heralds  and  trumpeters 
proclaimed  the  Scottish  knight  victorious." 

The  northern  and  western  buildings  of  the 
quadrangle  are  of  no  importance,  architectural 


Edinburgh  Castle  239 


or  otherwise.  They  include  the  hospital,  into 
the  walls  of  which  are  built  the  stones  of  an 
old  church  which  formerly  stood  on  the  spot. 
As  we  pass  out  of  the  castle,  the  sentimental 
will  be  inclined  to  take  a  peep  at  the  dogs' 
cemetery  in  a  corner  of  the  ramparts,  where 
are  buried  the  pets  of  the  regiments  that  have 
been  quartered  here. 

Below  the  north  side  of  the  castle,  in  the 
gardens,  may  be  seen  the  ruins  of  the  Well- 
house  Tower,  the  starting  point  of  the  first 
wall  of  the  city,  where  for  centuries  gushed 
forth  a  spring  which  was  the  principal  reli- 
ance of  the  garrison  in  time  of  siege.  On  the 
side  of  the  rock  may  be  seen  the  lines  of  a 
built-up  arch.  This  may  have  been  the  lion's 
den,  but  is  more  probably  a  remnant  of  the 
subterranean  passage  which  once  connected 
the  castle  with  St.  Giles  and  Holyrood  and 
through  which  Kirkcaldy  of  Grange  was  pro- 
visioned during  his  long  defence  of  the  castle 
for  Mary. 


CHAPTER  XI 


THE  CASTLES  OF  EDINBURGHSHIRE 

Holyrood  Palace 

Although  no  castle  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  word,  the  Palace  of  Holyrood  demands 
some  mention,  more  especially  because  linked 
with  so  many  events  in  the  life  of  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots.  The  legend  of  the  founda- 
tion of  the  abbey  by  David  I  has  already  been 
related.  Although  we  have  told  it  as  it  has 
been  handed  down  for  centuries,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  it  was  invented  many  years  after 
the  death  of  the  king;  nevertheless,  it  is  inter- 
esting, and  a  fair  sample  of  the  legends  which 
have  attached  themselves  to  many  abbeys  in 
various  parts  of  Europe. 

The  abbey  was  endowed  for  the  canons  reg- 
ular of  the  Augustinian  order,  a  colony  of 
whom  was  transferred  from  St.  Andrews. 
The  financial  resources  of  the  establishment 
were  large  from  the  outset,  and  in  addition 

240 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  241 


it  was  gifted  with  the  privileges  of  trial  by 
wager  of  battle,  by  water,  by  red-hot  iron,  etc., 
and  also  possessed  the  right  of  sanctuary, 
which  still  exists,  though  no  longer  useful  since 
the  abolition  of  imprisonmen-t  for  debt.  It 
soon  became  one  of  the  most  splendid  estab- 
lishments in  the  kingdom,  and,  like  all  monas- 
teries, contained  numerous  apartments  for  the 
entertainment  of  visitors  of  all  ranks.  Nobil- 
ity and  royalty  were  frequent  guests  within 
its  walls,  and  it  became  one  of  the  favourite 
residences  of  Scotland's  kings. 

Robert  Bruce  and  Edward  Baliol  held  par- 
liaments within  its  walls.  Robert  III  resided 
here  when  he  came  to  Edinburgh.  James  I 
and  his  queen  preferred  it  to  any  of  their  pal- 
aces, and  in  Holyrood  the  queen  gave  birth  to 
twins,  one  of  whom  was  afterward  James  II, 
and  was  crowned  in  the  abbey.  The  same 
king  was  married  and  buried  here,  and  spent 
much  of  his  life  in  residence  within  its  walls. 

Just  when  a  royal  residence  was  erected  in 
connection  with  the  abbey  is  not  clear.  Prob- 
ably the  accommodations  were  extended  at 
various  times,  as  the  needs  of  the  royal  fam- 
ily crowded  the  original  quarters  designed  for 
guests.  James  IV,  however,  began  the  erec- 
tion of  a  truly  royal  palace  which  henceforth 


242    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


subordinated  the  monastery,  and  it  was  fin- 
ished by  the  fifth  James. 

The  abbey  did  not  escape  the  storms  of  war 
which  rolled  over  the  Lowlands.  In  August, 
1332,  the  army  of  Edward  III,  on  its  return 
to  England,  laid  waste  the  grounds  and  build- 
ings of  the  abbey,  and  carried  off  its  treasures. 
In  1385,  during  the  furious  raid  of  Rich- 
ard II,  it  was  burnt.  It  was  wholly  disman- 
tled during  Hertford's  invasion  in  1545,  and 
the  roofs  were  stripped  of  the  remaining  lead 
three  years  later  by  Somerset,  after  the  battle 
of  Pinkie.  Some  repairs  were  made  for  the 
Scottish  coronation  of  Charles  I,  but  final  ruin 
was  accomplished  by  a  mob  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution,  when  the  roofs  were  again 
stripped,  the  monuments  destroyed,  the  vaults 
desecrated,  and  the  bones  of  kings  and  nobles 
scattered  in  the  most  disgraceful  manner.  The 
head  of  Queen  Magdalen,  still  retaining  its 
lifelike  appearance  and  much  of  its  beauty, 
and  the  skull  of  Darnley  were  stolen,  and  the 
other  bones  were  piled  promiscuously  in  heaps, 
where  they  long  remained  a  show  for  sight- 
seers and  a  prey  for  thieves.  The  church  was 
roofed  again  in  1758,  with  heavy  stone  flags, 
but  the  weight  was  too  much  for  the  shattered 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  243 


walls,  and  the  structure  succumbed  and  as- 
sumed its  present  ruinous  state. 

The  original  palace  was  destroyed  by  Hert- 
ford at  the  same  time  as  the  abbey,  but  was 
rebuilt.  Again  it  was  partially  destroyed  by 
the  soldiers  of  Cromwell.  At  the  orders  of 
Charles  II  it  was  reconstructed  in  its  present 
form  by  Sir  William  Bruce,  who  incorporated 
the  whole  western  front  of  the  old  palace,  in- 
cluding the  two  castellated  towers,  so  that  the 
architectural  appearance  is  not  wholly  homo- 
geneous. This  older  portion,  to  the  north,  con- 
tains the  apartments  which  are  of  the  deepest 
interest  to  all  visitors,  those  of  Mary,  Queen  of 
Scots. 

Here  she  resided  during  almost  all  of  that 
period  of  her  life  which  was  so  crowded  with 
passionate  and  tragic  incidents,  her  two  mar- 
riages with  Darnley  and  Bothwell,  the  murder 
of  Rizzio  in  her  presence,  and  of  Darnley  with 
her  knowledge  or  at  least  approbation. 

After  visiting  some  public  rooms  of  indiffer- 
ent interest,  we  enter  the  apartments  of  Darn- 
ley. The  most  interesting  thing  here  is  the 
little  private  stair  from  the  turret  room,  by 
which  access  was  gained  from  the  courtyard  to 
Mary's  apartments.  By  this  stair  the  assas- 
sins of  Rizzio  entered  the  palace,  and  were  eon- 


244    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ducted  by  Darnley  to  Mary's  rooms  above. 
This  is  now  closed,  and  entrance  is  made  by 
a  stair  from  the  audience  room  to  Queen 
Mary's  audience  chamber.  Here  stands  the 
bed  of  Charles  I,  used  also  by  Prince  Charles 
Edward  in  1745,  and  by  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land, his  conqueror,  in  the  following  year.  In 
this  room  Mary  disputed  with  John  Knox. 

From  this  room  we  enter  the  bedchamber  of 
Mary,  panelled  and  tapestried  as  befitted  a 
royal  apartment.  Fenced  from  the  devastat- 
ing touch  of  the  relic-hunter,  made  up  with 
the  mouldering  linen  and  rotted  damask  under 
which  the  queen  slept  on  her  last  night  here, 
her  bed  is  the  most  pathetic  memorial  of  past 
greatness  which  can  be  imagined.  As  one 
stands  in  the  presence  of  this  tangible  evi- 
dence of  the  bodily  presence  of  the  queen  in 
this  historic  spot,  the  centuries  vanish,  and  the 
imagination  easily  repeoples  these  bare  and 
decaying  chambers  with  the  ghosts  of  the  past; 
the  passionate  and  changeable  queen;  the  four 
Maries,  attendants  of  her  youth,  desolating  her 
as  they  one  by  one  married  and  left  her; 
Chastelard,  poet  of  love  and  gentleman  of 
France,  loser  of  his  own  head  from  inflated 
vanity;  Rizzio,  the  murdered  secretary;  Sec- 
retary Maitland;  the  awkward  and  lascivious 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  245 


king,  Henry  Darnley;  Bothwell,  seducer, 
murderer  and  pirate,  invincible  with  women; 
John  Knox,  the  Reformer;  Ruthven;  George 
Douglas;  Ker  of  Faldonside;  gentlemen  and 
ruffians,  nobles  and  churchmen,  courtiers  and 
retainers,  a  motley  crowd,  all  intent  on  their 
own  petty  purposes,  and  dragging  the  des- 
tinies of  a  nation  through  their  coils  of  in- 
trigue, passion  and  violent  death. 

The  queen's  supper  room,  at  the  head  of  the 
spiral  staircase,  is  the  culminating  point  of  the 
visit.  Here  occurred  the  tragedy  whose  vis- 
ible evidence  is  the  dark  stain  in  the  audience 
room  which  a  doubting  public  requires  to  be 
renewed  yearly,  against  the  wish  of  the  author- 
ities, that  it  may  be  assured  that  the  vital  fluid 
of  some  unfortunate  sheep  is  the  very  life- 
blood  of  the  Piedmontese  secretary.  The  mur- 
der of  Rizzio  has  been  depicted  over  and  over 
again,  but  who  could  do  it  better  than  Mary 
herself.   Here  it  is  as  she  testified  to  it :  — 

"  Upon  the  9th  day  of  March,  we  being,  at 
even,  about  seven  hours,  in  our  cabinet  at 
supper,  sociated  with  our  sister  the  Countess 
of  Argyle,  our  brother  the  Commendator  of 
Holyrood  House,  the  Laird  of  Creich,  Arthur 
Erskin,  and  certain  other  our  domestic  servi- 
tors, in  quiet  manner,  especially  by  reason  of 


246    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


our  evil  disposition  (illness),  being  counselled 
to  sustain  ourselves  with  flesh  —  having  then 
passed  almost  to  the  end  of  seven  months  in 
our  birth  —  the  king,  our  husband,  came  to  us 
in  our  cabinet,  and  placed  himself  beside  us  at 
our  supper.  The  Earl  of  Morton  and  Lord 
Lindsay,  with  their  assisters,  bodin  (armed)  in 
warlike  manner,  to  the  number  of  eighteen 
persons,  occupied  the  whole  entry  of  our  palace 
of  Holyrood  House,  so  that  they  believed  it 
was  not  possible  for  any  person  to  escape  forth 
out  of  the  same. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  Lord  Ruthven,  bodin 
in  like  manner,  with  his  complices,  took  entry 
per  force  in  our  cabinet;  and  there  seeing  our 
secretary,  David  Riccio,  among  others  our 
servants,  declared  he  had  to  speak  with  him. 
In  this  instance  we  required  the  king,  our  hus- 
band, if  he  knew  anything  of  that  enterprise, 
who  denied  the  same.  Also  we  commanded  the 
Lord  Ruthven,  under  the  pain  of  treason,  to 
avoid  him  forth  of  our  preseiice.  He  (Riccio) 
then  for  refuge  took  safer  guard,  having  re- 
tired him  behind  our  back;  but  Ruthven,  with 
his  complices,  cast  down  our  table  upon  our- 
self ,  put  violent  hands  on  him,  struck  him  over 
our  shoulder  with  whinyards  (daggers),  one 
part  of  them  standing  before  our  face,  with 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  247 


bended  dags  (cocked  pistols),  most  cruelly 
took  him  out  of  our  cabinet,  and  at  the  entry 
of  our  chamber  gave  him  fifty-six  strokes  with 
whinyards  and  swords.  In  doing  whereof  we 
were  not  only  struck  with  great  dread,  but 
also  by  sundrie  considerations  were  most  justly 
induced  to  take  extreme  fear  of  our  life. 

"  After  this  deed  immediately  the  said  Lord 
Ruthven,  coming  again  into  our  presence,  de- 
clared how  they  and  their  complices  were 
highly  offended  with  our  proceedings  and 
tyranny,  which  was  not  to  them  tolerable; 
how  we  were  abused  by  the  said  David,  whom 
they  actually  put  to  death,  namely,  in  taking 
his  counsel  for  maintenance  of  the  ancient 
religion,  debarring  of  the  lords  who  were 
fugitives,  and  entertaining  of  amity  with  for- 
eign princes  and  nations  with  whom  we  were 
confederate;  putting  also  upon  Council  the 
Lords  Bothwell  and  Huntly,  who  were  trai- 
tors, and  with  whom  he  (Riccio)  sociated  him- 
self." 

Mary  was  not  deceived  by  Darnley's  pro- 
testations of  innocence  in  the  matter,  more 
especially  as  his  bloody  dagger  was  found  in 
the  hastily  made  grave  of  Rizzio,  and  this  ter- 
rible invasion  of  her  chamber,  regardless  of 
her  rights  as  a  queen,  a  woman,  and  an  ap- 


248    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


preaching  mother,  combined  with  Darnley's 
indiscriminate  amours  with  the  most  debased 
companions,  effectually  killed  her  love  for  him. 
The  manly  Both  well  succeeded  to  her  favour, 
and  less  than  a  year  later  the  house  where 
Darnley  was  staying,  in  the  Kirk  o'  Field,  was 
blown  up  at  night,  and  the  king  killed.  Then 
followed  the  secret  marriage  with  Both  well  in 
the  hall  of  Holyrood,  not  the  Chapel  Royal, 
where  Darnley  had  been  espoused.  The  be- 
ginning of  the  end;  few  and  short  were  her 
hours  of  ease  thereafter.  Secrecy,  evasion, 
flight,  defeat,  imprisonment,  in  varied  se- 
quence, were  her  lot,  and  finally  came  death 
by  behest  of  that  Elizabeth  depicted  with 
bloody  hands  in  Mary's  bedchamber  at  Holy- 
rood. 

In  the  registers  of  Holyrood  these  entries 
relate  to  some  of  the  important  events  of 
Mary's  hfe. 

On  July  21st,  1565:  proclamation  of  mar- 
riage between  Mary  and  Darnley: 

"  Ye  quhilk  daye,  Johnne  Brand,  Mynister, 
presented  to  ye  Kirk  ane  writtin  writin  be  ye 
Justice-Clerk's  hand,  desyring  ye  Kirk  of  ye 
Cannogait  and  Mynister  thairof  to  proclaime 
Harie,  Duk  of  Albayne,  Erie  of  Roiss,  etc., 
on  ye  ane  pairt,  and  Marie,  be  ye  Grace  of 


J3 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  249 


God,  Queene  of  Scottis,  Soverane  of  this 
Reahne,  on  ye  ather  pairt.  The  quhilk  ye 
Kirk  ordains  ye  Mynister  so  to  do  wi.  invo- 
cationne  of  ye  Name  of  God." 

And  on  the  29th  of  July  of  the  same  year, 
stands  the  entry  of  the  said  parties  having 
been  proclaimed:  "  Harie,  Duk  of  Albayne, 
Erie  of  Roiss,  Marie,  be  ye  Grace  of  God, 
Queene  Soverane  of  this  Realme,  1.  2.  3." 
with  the  note,  "  Mar.  in  ye  Chappell." 

The  two  murders  are  thus  entered:  "  Monsr. 
Singnior  Dauid  wes  slaine  in  Halyruidhous  ye 
ix.  daye  o'  Merche  anno  1565.  (Old  style.)  " 
"  The  King's  Grace  blaun  up  wi'  pudr.  in  ye 
Kirk  o'  Field,  ye  x.  day  o'  Februar,  1566." 

Craigmillar  Castle 

Three  miles  south  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  par- 
ish of  Liberton,  there  stand  on  a  wooded  hill 
the  well  preserved  ruins  of  Craigmillar  Castle. 
The  nucleus  of  this  castle  was  probably  erected 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  It 
was  a  keep  of  L-plan,  four  stories  high,  with 
a  flat  roof  well  adapted  for  purposes  of  de- 
fence. Two  of  the  floors  were  vaulted,  the 
others  were  formed  of  wood  midway  in  the 
height  of  the  vaults.   This  keep  was  provided 


250    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


with  a  courtyard  which  has  probably  always 
retained  the  same  dimensions.  Entering  the 
castle  by  the  gateway  on  the  north  side,  which 
formerly  had  a  guardhouse  and  a  portcullis,  it 


Plan  of  Craigmillar  Castle 


was  necessary  to  pass  around  two  sides  of  the 
keep,  through  a  narrow  passage  between  it  and 
the  south  wall  of  the  courtyard,  and  across  a 
chasm  in  the  rock  provided  with  a  movable 
bridge,  before  reaching  the  entrance  door. 
This  was  consequently  deemed  to  be  well 
enough  defended  to  be  placed  on  the  ground 
floor.  Inside  there  is  a  lobby  below  the  out- 
side level,  commanded  by  a  guardroom  above. 
To  get  to  the  stairs,  an  abrupt  turn  through 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  251 


a  narrow  door  is  necessary.  The  stair  contains 
a  provision  for  defence,  in  that  it  does  not 
continue  straight  up,  but  leads  into  a  guard- 
room at  the  hall  level,  and  makes  a  new  start 
upward  several  feet  to  one  side.  It  would 
hardly  be  possible  to  make  a  more  tortuous 
and  difficult  entrance  for  an  enemy  to  win. 

The  walls  of  the  enceinte  are  about  thirty 
feet  high,  and  provided  with  turrets  at  each 
corner.  They  are  corbelled  out  to  make  a  con- 
tinuous rampart  with  open  machicolations,  em- 
brasures and  loopholes.  Some  parts  of  the 
curtain  had  also  wooden  hoardings  outside,  the 
beam-holes  for  which  are  still  visible. 

In  the  sixteenth  century,  after  the  ravages 
of  Hertford,  the  castle  was  restored,  and  a 
range  of  buildings  erected  around  the  east  and 
south  sides  of  the  wall,  thus  converting  this 
into  a  courtyard  castle.  A  new  staircase  was 
built  at  this  time  for  easier  access  to  the  keep. 
The  west  wing  was  added  later,  perhaps  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  to  replace  earlier  build- 
ings on  this  side. 

This  castle  is  almost  unique  in  having  intact 
the  outer  bailey,  which  contained  the  farm 
buildings,  chapel,  and  gardens.  The  whole 
enclosure  is  over  three  hundred  feet  long  and 
about  two  hundred  wide.    This  outer  court  is 


252    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


not  extended  around  the  south  side,  where  the 
castle  stands  on  the  edge  of  a  precipitous  cliff 
some  thirty  feet  high,  and  needed  no  additional 
defence. 

Craigmillar  is  mentioned  in  a  charter  of 
Alexander  II  as  early  as  1212.  It  was  pur- 
chased from  Sir  John  de  Capella  by  Sir  Simon 
Preston  in  1374,  and  remained  in  the  Preston 
family  for  almost  three  hundred  years.  In 
1477  it  was  the  prison  of  John,  Earl  of  Mar, 
younger  brother  of  James  III,  who  was  con- 
fined here  on  the  charge  of  conspiring  against 
his  brother's  life.  It  was  the  residence  of 
James  V  during  his  minority,  when  he  left 
Edinburgh  on  account  of  the  plague;  and  by 
the  favour  of  his  guardian,  Lord  Erskine,  the 
queen  dowager  was  allowed  to  visit  him  here 
while  the  Duke  of  Albany,  the  governor,  was 
absent  in  France.  The  castle  was  burned  and 
plundered  by  the  English  in  1554,  and  most 
of  the  present  buildings  are  of  later  date,  as 
stated  above.  The  castle  was  a  favourite  resi- 
dence of  Queen  Mary  after  her  return  from 
France  in  1561.  Her  French  retinue  were 
lodged  in  the  little  village  which  still  exists  to 
the  east  of  the  castle,  and  is  known  as  Petit 
France.  Mary's  room,  in  the  south  wing  of 
the  keep,  is  only  seven  feet  by  five,  but  never- 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  253 


theless  contains  two  windows  and  a  fireplace. 
Mary  was  residing  here  in  November,  1566, 
when  the  "  Conference  of  Craigmillar "  was 
held,  at  which  Bothwell  proposed  her  divorce 
from  Darnley.  Here  also  was  signed  and 
dated  the  "  bond  of  blood  "  for  the  murder  of 
Darnley,  by  Maitland,  Morton  and  the  other 
conspirators. 

The  castle  has  been  much  repaired  in  recent 
years,  and  is  in  good  preservation.  It  may  be 
visited  on  application  to  the  custodian  in  the 
village  to  the  east,  the  fee  to  the  guide  being 
optional. 

Borthwick  Castle 

Borthwick  Castle,  now  unfortunately  abso- 
lutely closed  to  visitors,  is  the  finest  keep  in 
Scotland.  The  building  is  in  good  preserva- 
tion and  stands  almost  in  its  original  form. 
Its  date  of  erection  is  exactly  known,  as  Sir 
William  Borthwick  was  created  Lord  Borth- 
wick in  1430,  and  was  granted,  by  James  I, 
a  license  to  erect  upon  the  spot  called  the 
Mote  of  Locherwart  a  castle  or  fortalice,  to 
surround  it  with  walls  and  ditches,  to  defend 
it  with  gates  of  brass  or  iron,  and  to  place 
upon  the  summit  defensive  ornaments,  that  is, 
battlements  and  turrets;  he  was  further  em- 


254     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


powered  to  place  in  the  castle  so  erected  a  con- 
stable, a  porter,  and  all  other  persons  and 
things  necessary  for  the  defence  thereof. 

The  castle  stands  on  a  slight  eminence  be- 
tween two  streams,  towards  which  the  ground 
slopes  precipitously.  It  is  defended  by  outer 
walls,  forming  an  irregular  courtyard  about 
two  hundred  and  forty  feet  long  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  broad.  At  the  bottom  of  the 
steep  slope  crowned  by  these  walls  is  a  ditch. 
The  wall  is  defended  by  towers,  of  which  that 
at  the  corner  by  the  gate  is  very  strong,  and 
had  a  fair-sized  apartment  within. 

The  castle  is  perhaps  the  largest  simple  keep 
in  Scotland.  It  is  seventy-four  feet  by  sixty- 
eight,  and  ninety  feet  high,  exclusive  of  the 
battlements.  It  consists  of  an  oblong  block 
containing  the  great  hall,  and  two  wings  on 
the  west  side,  with  a  deep  recess  between.  It 
is  built  of  polished  sandstone,  which  has  re- 
sisted the  weather  remarkably  well,  and  gives 
it  an  unusual  appearance  of  freshness  in  spite 
of  its  great  age. 

The  basement  comprises  several  vaulted 
rooms,  as  is  usual,  and  access  from  it  to  the 
hall  is  gained  by  a  spiral  stair  opening  into 
the  guardroom.  The  great  hall,  fifty-one  feet 
by  twenty-three,  occupies  the  entire  first  floor 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  255 


of  the  main  building.  To  enter  from  without 
it  was  necessary  to  go  around  two  sides  of 
the  keep,  and  mount  a  stair  to  the  parapet  of 
the  enceinte  on  which  rested  a  drawbridge 
from  the  entrance.  The  first  floor  walls  are 
twelve  to  fourteen  feet  thick  and  a  guardroom 
in  them  defends  the  entrance. 

The  hall  is  vaulted  and  twenty-nine  feet 
high.  It  contains  a  lofty  hooded  fireplace, 
somewhat  ornamented,  and  a  music  gallery. 
In  the  north  wing  is  the  kitchen,  containing 
an  enormous  fireplace,  in  which  are  three  win- 
dows. The  south  wing  contains  a  parlour. 
The  rooms  above  in  each  wing  are  bedrooms. 
In  the  main  block  are  a  drawing-room  and 
chapel  on  the  second  floor,  and  bedrooms  on 
two  more  floors. 

The  roof  was  defended  by  parapets  sup- 
ported on  bold  corbels  with  open  machicola- 
tions all  around  and  round  bartizans  at  the 
corners.  These  parapets  are  gone  on  the  east 
side,  where  they  were  destroyed  during  Crom- 
well's bombardment  in  1650. 

The  land  on  which  this  castle  was  built  was 
purchased  by  its  builder  from  William  Hay 
of  Locherwart,  and  was  on  the  extreme  edge 
of  his  property.  This  was  a  common  custom, 
the  reason  for  which  was  well  expressed  by  a 


256    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


northern  laird  who  did  the  same  thing.  One 
of  his  friends  warned  him  of  the  inconvenience 
of  such  a  procedure,  as  removing  him  too  far 
from  the  other  side  of  his  estate.  The  laird 
significantly  answered,  "  We'll  brizz  yont." 
Translated,  this  signifies,  "  We'll  press  for- 
ward," and  is  indicative  of  the  habit  of  the 
feudal  barons  to  extend  their  domains  upon 
every  pretext. 

Hay  of  Locherwart  looked  with  envy  on 
the  magnificent  castle  rising  on  the  land  he  had 
so  lately  parted  with,  and  vented  his  spleen 
by  building  just  below  the  tower,  in  the  valley 
which  was  still  in  his  domain,  a  mill,  declaring 
that  the  pride  of  Borthwick  should  never  cease 
to  be  wounded  by  the  clack  of  his  neighbour's 
mill. 

William,  Lord  Borthwick,  the  builder,  was 
a  man  of  note  in  his  time,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  assize  which  sat  at  Stirling  on  Murdoch, 
Duke  of  Albany,  builder  of  Doune,  and  his 
sons.  His  descendants  were  also  men  of  merit, 
ambassadors  overseas,  and  forward  in  Parlia- 
ment. The  third  lord,  with  his  neighbour  of 
Crichton,  fell  on  the  fatal  field  of  Flodden. 
His  last  descendant  died  in  1672,  and  ninety 
years  later  the  peerage  became  extinct.  It  had 
been  one  of  the  greatest  in  Scotland,  its  lands 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  257 


in  1538  comprising  no  less  than  thirteen  do- 
mains, in  five  counties. .  The  last  lord,  on  being 
confirmed  in  his  title  by  Parliament,  claimed 
the  title  of  First  Baron  of  Scotland. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  relates  the  following  curi- 
ous incident  which  occurred  at  Borthwick  in 
1547,  having  found  an  account  of  it  in  the 
ecclesiastical  records  of  St.  Andrews.  In  con- 
sequence of  a  process  betwixt  Master  George 
Hay  de  Minzeane  and  the  Lord  Borthwick, 
letters  of  exconmiunication  had  passed  against 
the  latter,  on  account  of  the  contumacy  of  cer- 
tain witnesses.  William  Langlands,  an  appar- 
itor or  macer  of  the  see  of  St.  Andrews,  pre- 
sented these  letters  to  the  curate  of  the  church 
of  Borthwick,  requiring  him  to  publish  the 
same  at  the  service  of  high  mass.  It  seems 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  castle  were  at  this 
time  engaged  in  the  favourite  sport  of  enact- 
ing the  Abbot  of  Unreason,  a  species  of  Mgh- 
jinkSj  in  which  a  mimic  prelate  was  elected, 
who,  like  the  Lord  of  Misrule  in  England, 
turned  every  sort  of  lawful  authority,  and  par- 
ticularly the  Church  ritual,  into  ridicule.  This 
frolicsome  person  with  his  retinue,  notwith- 
standing the  apparitor's  character,  entered  the 
church,  seized  upon  the  primate's  officer  with- 
out hesitation,  and,  dragging  him  to  the  mill- 


258    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


dam  on  the  south  side  of  the  castle,  compelled 
him  to  leap  into  the  water.  Not  contented 
with  this  partial  immersion,  the  Abbot  of  Un- 
reason pronounced  that  Mr.  William  Lang- 
lands  was  not  yet  sufficiently  bathed,  and 
therefore  caused  his  assistants  to  lay  him  on  his 
back  in  the  stream,  and  duck  him  in  the  most 
satisfactory  and  perfect  manner.  The  unfor- 
tunate apparitor  was  then  conducted  back  to 
the  church,  where,  for  his  refreshment  after 
his  bath,  the  letters  of  excommunication  were 
torn  to  pieces,  and  steeped  in  a  bowl  of  wine; 
the  mock  abbot  being  probably  of  the  opinion 
that  a  tough  parchment  was  but  dry  eating. 
Langlands  was  compelled  to  eat  the  letters, 
and  swallow  the  wine,  and  dismissed  by  the 
Abbot  of  Unreason  with  the  comfortable  as- 
surance that  if  any  more  such  letters  should 
arrive  during  the  continuance  of  his  office, 
"  they  should  a'  gang  the  same  gait." 

The  authorities  of  St.  Andrews,  owing  to 
the  progress  of  the  Reformation,  appear  to 
have  been  unable  to  avenge  the  insult  by  any- 
thing more  serious  than  threats  of  excommuni- 
cation against  the  perpetrators  when  discov- 
ered. This  species  of  license  grew  so  fast, 
that  a  few  years  later  an  act  of  Parliament 
not  only  prohibited  the  choosing  of  Abbots 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  259 


of  Unreason,  but  ordered  that  women  singing 
around  summer-trees  or  May-poles  were  to  be 
taken,  handled  and  put  upon  the  ducking- 
stone. 

This  same  John,  fifth  Lord  Borthwick,  who 
allowed  thq  license  of  the  Abbot  of  Unreason, 
was  a  loyal  friend  and  adherent  of  Queen 
Mary.  The  Earl  of  Bothwell  was  proprietor 
of  Crichton  Castle,  only  two  miles  away,  and 
Mary  often  visited  Borthwick  to  be  near  him. 
As  shown  by  Cecil's  diary  on  the  Tth  of 
October,  1566,  when  the  queen  heard  that 
Bothwell  had  been  hurt  in  Liddesdale,  she 
rode  to  Borthwick.  She  was  also  there  on 
June  6th,  1567,  with  Bothwell,  to  whom  she 
had  been  married  little  more  than  three  weeks. 

Less  than  a  week  later,  on  the  eleventh, 
Mary  and  Bothwell  were  again  here,  fear  hav- 
ing driven  them  from  Holyrood.  A  letter  of 
James  Beaton,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  states 
that,  in  this  morning,  "  my  Lords  of  Morton, 
Mar,  Hume,  Lindsay,  etc.,  with  sundry  odderis 
barronis,  to  the  nommer  of  nine  hundredth 
or  a  thousand  horsemen,  arryvit  in  the  morn- 
ing about  Borthwick,  in  deliberation  to  com- 
prehend and  tak  my  Lord  Duk,  wha  was  in 
the  said  place  with  the  Queen's  Majestic.  My 
Lord  Duk  hearing  of  this  enterprize,  thinking 


260    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


well  he  could  be  in  mair  securitie  in  the  field 
than  in  ane  house,  passit  forth  and  red  away. 

"  Her  Majestic,  in  mennis  claithes,  butit 
and  spurrit,  departit  that  samin  nicht  of 
Borthwick  to  Dunbar,  quhairof  na  man  knew 
saif  my  Lord  Duk  and  sum  of  his  servants, 
wha  met  her  Majestic  a  myll  off  Borthwick, 
and  conveyed  her  hieness  to  Dunbar." 

The  insurgent  nobles  had  not  yet  felt  them- 
selves able  to  touch  the  person  of  Mary,  so, 
finding  Bothwell  flown,  they  returned  to  Edin- 
burgh, where  they  beat  down  the  gates  of  the 
castle,  without  opposition  from  the  provost 
and  town  officers.  There  they  captured 
Mary's  friends,  who  had  retired  there  for 
safety.  Beaton,  the  writer  of  the  letter  just 
quoted,  conveyed  these  tidings  to  Mary,  whom 
he  found  "  so  quiet  at  Borthwick,  that  there 
was  none  with  her,  passing  six  or  seven  per- 
sons." This  small  garrison  probably  deter- 
mined her  to  ride  forth,  "  butit  and  spurrit, 
and  in  the  guize  of  a  page,"  to  Cakemuir 
Castle,  where  she  passed  a  night,  and  where 
BothwelFs  servants  met  her,  to  escort  her  to 
Dunbar. 

During  the  Civil  War,  the  eighth  Lord 
Borthwick  was  a  follower  of  the  king.  Borth- 
wick Castle,  as  well  as  all  the  other  strong- 


I 

The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  261 


holds  in  the  vicinity  of  Edinburgh,  was  gar- 
risoned for  the  royal  side,  which  fact  was 
greatly  instrumental  in  causing  the  retreat  of 
Cromwell  from  Edinburgh.  After  the  disas- 
trous battle  of  Dunbar  had  caused  the  surren- 
der of  the  capital,  these  fortresses  fell  gradu- 
ally into  the  possession  of  the  English.  Borth- 
wick  Castle  held  out  persistently  and  its  gar- 
rison harried  the  victorious  army  on  every 
occasion.  Cromwell  soon  determined  to  put 
an  end  to  this  wasp-like  annoyance,  and  sent 
from  Edinburgh  on  the  18th  November,  1650, 
a  letter  endorsed  "  For  the  Governor  off 
Borthwick  Castle  —  These."  Its  terse  and 
emphatic  contents  were  as  follows: 

"  Sir, 

"  I  thought  fitt  to  send  this  trumpett  to  you 
to  let  you  know,  that  if  you  please  to  walk  away 
with  your  company,  and  deliver  the  house  to 
such  as  I  shall  send  to  receive  it,  you  shall 
have  libertie  to  carry  off  your  arms  and  goods, 
and  such  other  necessaries  as  you  have.  You 
harboured  such  parties  in  your  house  as  have 
basely  and  inhumanely  murdered  our  men;  if 
you  necessitate  me  to  bend  my  cannon  against 
you,  you  must  expect  what  I  doubt  you  will 


262    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


not  be  pleased  with.  I  expect  your  present 
answer,  and  rest 

"  Your  servant, 

"  O.  Cromwell." 

The  governor,  supposed  to  be  Lord  Borth- 
wick,  chose  to  remain,  whereupon  the  artillery- 
was  duly  brought  into  position  on  the  east 
side,  and  the  garrison  soon  found  their  de- 
fences tumbling  about  their  ears.  They  then 
surrendered  on  honourable  terms.  Thus  closes 
the  history  of  Borthwick's  wars. 

Of  the  name  of  Borthwick,  not  in  the  line 
of  succession,  one  or  two  men  have  passed  into 
history.  Of  these  was  Robert  Borthwick,  gun 
founder  and  gunner  in  the  infancy  of  great 
guns,  master  of  artillery  to  James  IV.  He 
cast  the  beautiful  guns  called  the  Seven  Sis- 
ters, a  greatly  admired  prize  of  the  English 
on  the  bloody  field  of  Flodden. 

Another  of  the  name  spoke  on  his  last  bed 
the  sentence  proverbially  called  "  David  Borth- 
wick's Testament."  He  was  a  lawyer,  and 
became  rich;  all  his  estates  he  gave  to  his  son. 
Sir  James  Borthwick,  who  spent  prodigally 
what  came  so  easily.  As  the  old  advocate  lay 
dying  he  was  told  that  Ballencrieff,  the  last 
estate,  was  sold.   He  merely  replied:  "  What 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  263 


can  I  say?  I  bequeath  every  man  to  the 
devil  that  begets  a  fool,  and  does  not  make 
a  fool  of  him." 

Crichton  Castle 

Crichton  Castle,  two  miles  from  Borthwick, 
is  a  fine  specimen  of  a  structure  begun  as  a 
simple  fourteenth-century  keep,  and  afterward 
extended  into  a  castle  surrounding  a  court- 
yard. It  was  until  recently  accessible  to  the 
public,  but  entrance  is  now  forbidden,  as  the 
present  owner  has  again  made  it  into  a  dwell- 
ing house. 

The  keep  contained  the  usual  hall,  with  a 
vaulted  basement  below,  there  being  no  com- 
munication between  the  floors.  The  dungeon 
was  in  one  corner  of  the  basement,  in  the  thick- 
ness of  the  wall  and  the  haunch  of  the  base- 
ment vault,  a  cramped  apartment  communi- 
cating with  the  hall  by  a  stair.  The  door  of 
the  dungeon  is  less  than  three  feet  high,  and 
is  nine  feet  above  the  floor.  It  has  no  win- 
dows but  an  air-slit. 

On  the  north  and  west  sides  of  the  court- 
yard are  fifteen-century  additions,  including 
new  halls,  kitchens,  etc.,  as  at  Doune  and  Tan- 
tallon.   Two  halls  are  included,  one  above  the 


264    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


other,  each  with  its  own  kitchen  and  serving- 
room. 

The  latest  portion  of  the  buildings  is  the 
finely  decorated  north  side,  erected  about  1600. 
The  lower  floor  is  an  arcaded  corridor,  and  the 
stonework  above  is  cut  into  square  facets,  so 
that  the  whole  aspect  of  this  side  is  rather  that 
of  a  Venetian  palace  than  a  Scottish  castle. 

The  first  recorded  proprietor  of  Crichton 
was  Sir  William  Crichton,  chancellor  to 
James  I  and  guardian  of  his  son.  In  1445 
the  castle  was  stormed  and  destroyed  by  For- 
rester of  Corstorphine,  a  follower  of  Living- 
stone. In  1488  the  estate  was  given  to  Pat- 
rick Hepburn,  first  Earl  of  Bothwell,  and 
descended  from  him  to  the  famous  earl  of 
Mary's  time.  Forfeited  by  him  to  the  Crown, 
it  was  given  by  James  VI  to  Francis  Stu- 
art, Earl  of  Bothwell.  Later  it  passed  through 
numerous  changes  of  proprietorship,  and  was 
until  lately  a  crumbling  ruin.  Scott  thus 
describes  it  in  "  Marmion:  "  — 

"  That  castle  rises  on  the  steep 
Of  the  green  vale  of  Tyne : 
And  far  beneath,  where  slow  they  creep, 
From  pool  to  eddy,  dark  and  deep,  — 
Where  alders  moist  and  willows  weep,  — 
You  hear  her  streams  repine. 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  265 


The  towers  in  different  ages  rosej 
Their  various  architecture  shows 

The  builders'  various  hands ; 
A  mighty  mass  that  could  oppose, 
When  deadliest  hatred  fired  its  foes, 

The  vengeful  Douglas  bands. 

Crichton !  though  now  thy  miry  court 

But  pens  the  lazy  steer  and  sheep ; 

Thy  turrets  rude,  and  totter'd  keep, 
Have  been  the  minstrePs  loved  resort. 
Oft  have  I  traced  within  thy  fort, 

Of  mouldering  shields  the  mystic  sense, 

Scutcheons  of  honour,  or  pretence. 
Quartered  in  old  armorial  sort, 

Eemains  of  rude  magnificence. 
Nor  wholly  yet  has  time  defaced 

Thy  lordly  gallery  fair ; 
Nor  yet  the  stony  cord  unbraced 
Whose  twisted  knots,  with  roses  laced, 

Adorn  thy  ruin'd  stair. 
Still  rises  unimpaired  below 
The  court-yard's  graceful  portico; 
Above  its  cornice,  row  on  row 
Of  fair  hewn  facets  richly  show 

Their  pointed  diamond  form ; 
Though  there  but  houseless  cattle  go 

To  .shield  them  from  the  storm ; 
And,  shuddering,  still,  may  we  explore. 

Where  oft  whilom  were  captives  pent, 
The  darkness  of  the  Massy-More  ; 

Or  from  thy  grass-grown  battlement, 


266    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


May  trace,  in  undulating  line, 
The  sluggish  mazes  of  the  Tyne." 

Eoslin  Castle 

Roslin  Castle  stands  on  a  high  promontory 
lying  above  the  North  Esk,  twelve  miles  south 
of  Edinburgh.  To  the  ordinary  visitor  it  is 
an  unimportant  incident  of  the  visit  to  the 
wonderful  Roslin  Chapel,  one  of  the  gems  of 
Gothic  architecture,  which  stands  hard  by. 
The  castle  is  indeed  but  a  shapeless  mass  of 
ruins,  with  a  house  of  late  date  built  over  part 
of  them,  but  it  possesses  some  unusual  archi- 
tectural features.  The  approach  to  the  castle 
was  over  a  narrow  promontory  of  rock.  This 
has  been  cut  through  at  its  narrowest  part, 
and  the  gap  was  formerly  crossed  by  a  draw- 
bridge, but  is  now  filled  with  a  stone  arch. 
The  road  under  this  once  crossed  the  river, 
but  the  bridge  has  long  vanished. 

The  entrance  to  the  castle  was  anciently 
guarded  by  a  gatehouse  with  round  towers, 
and  by  a  square  tower,  both  of  which  are  now 
utterly  ruinous.  The  keep,  the  oldest  part  of 
the  castle,  was  at  the  southwest  corner,  on  the 
highest  part  of  the  site.  It  was  fifty  feet  long, 
of  unknown  width,  and  is  now  represented 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  267 


only  by  the  walls  of  one  side  and  part  of 
another.  No  vestige  of  the  internal  arrange- 
ments is  left.  It  was  built  in  the  thirteenth 
century.  Continuing  its  wall  to  the  northward 
is  what  is  apparently  a  wall  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  This  is  unique  in  Scotland,  and  its 
construction  is  both  curious  and  hard  to  de- 
scribe. It  is  composed  of  eight  buttresses  or 
rounds,  wedge  shaped  in  plan,  with  rounded 
outer  ends.  Father  Hay,  the  historian  of  the 
family,  gives  a  description  which  makes  it 
probable  that  arches  were  thrown  across  the 
tops  of  these  buttresses,  to  form  a  parapet. 
He  calls  them  the  wall  of  the  chapel,  but 
there  is  no  present  indication  that  they  ever 
f  ormed  part  of  a  building. 

The  buildings  on  the  southeast  side  of  the 
court  are  seventeenth  century.  Three  stories 
are  built  below  the  level  of  the  courtyard, 
vaulted  in  stone,  and  reached  by  a  wide  stone 
stair.  These  buildings  rise  two  stories  above 
the  courtyard  level,  containing  the  dining- 
room,  great  hall,  etc.,  while  the  lower  rooms 
were  used  as  kitchen,  bakery,  and  store  rooms. 
They  overlook  the  tilting  ground  to  the  south 
in  the  valley.  Though  surrounded  by  trees  of 
great  age,  this  is  still  clear,  and  bears  evident 
marks  of  its  original  purpose. 


268    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


"  The  lordly  line  of  high  St.  Clair  "  has  been 
domiciled  in  Scotland  since  the  time  of  Mal- 
colm Canmore."  This  monarch  gave  William, 
son  of  Waldernus,  Comte  de  St.  Clair,  one 
of  the  Norman  barons  who  came  with  the 
Conqueror,  the  lands  of  the  barony  of  Roslin. 
This  was  about  1100,  and  there  has  probably 
been  a  castle  on  the  spot  ever  since.  His 
castle  was  doubtless  incorporated  in  the  pres- 
ent keep,  built  by  William  de  St.  Clair,  who 
set  out  with  Lord  James  Douglas  to  carry  the 
heart  of  the  Bruce  to  Palestine.  The  line 
prospered,  and  its  titles  extended  until  the  St. 
Clairs  were  Barons  of  Roslin  and  several  other 
lands  in  Lothian,  Earls  of  Orkney  and  Caith- 
ness, and  Dukes  of  Oldenburg.  They  were  at 
the  head  of  the  baronage  of  Midlothian,  and 
rich  to  an  extent  unusual  for  Scotland.  Their 
glory  culminated  in  Earl  William,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
and  founded  Roslin  Chapel.  He  maintained 
his  court  at  Roslin  Castle  with  a  state  and 
magnificence  even  greater  than  that  of  many 
of  the  Scotch  monarchs.  He  was  served  at 
his  own  table  from  vessels  of  silver  and  gold, 
by  great  nobles;  Lord  Dirleton  was  the  mas- 
ter of  his  household.  Lord  Borthwick  his  cup- 
bearer, and  Lord  Fleming  his  carver.  If 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  269 


these  were  absent  their  deputies  were  respect- 
ively Stuart,  Laird  of  Drumlanrig,  Tweedie, 
Laird  of  Drumerline,  and  Sandilands,  Laird 
of  Calder,  each  of  which  six  owned  a  castle  of 
his  own.  As  to  the  state  of  his  remaining 
equipage,  let  us  quote  Father  Hay :  — 

"  His  Countess,  Margaret  Douglas,  was 
waited  on  by  seventy-five  gentlewomen, 
whereof  fifty-three  were  daughters  of  noble- 
men, all  cloathed  in  velvets  and  silks  and  with 
their  chains  of  gold  and  other  pertinents; 
together  with  two  hundred  rideing  gentilmen, 
quho  accompanied  her  in  all  her  journies.  She 
had  carried  before  hir  when  she  went  to  Edin- 
burgh if  it  were  dark  eighty  lighted  torches. 
So  that  in  a  word  none  matched  her  in  all  the 
contrey  save  the  Queue's  Majesty." 

The  castle  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1452, 
and  again  demolished  during  the  English  in- 
vasion of  1544,  along  with  Craigmillar.  It 
was  partially  restored  in  1580,  but  Monk 
knocked  it  to  pieces  again  in  1650,  and  it  was 
never  rebuilt.  What  he  left,  the  mob  tore 
down  and  carried  away  when  they  ravaged 
Roslin  Chapel  in  1681. 

Roslin  is  the  scene  of  more  than  one  pic- 
turesque legend,  some  of  which  have  been  the 
subjects  of  Scott's  poetic  genius.    The  most 


270    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


famous  is  that  which  relates  how  the  earl  of 
the  time  of  Bruce  obtained  from  that  monarch 
his  broad  baronies  in  the  Pentlands.  It  seems 
that  Robert  Bruce  was  in  the  habit  of  hunt- 
ing in  the  dense  forest  which  then  covered 
all  this  region,  and  that  his  hounds  had  often 
started  a  beautiful  white  deer,  which  regularly 
outran  them  and  escaped.  On  a  certain  day 
William  St.  Clair  boasted  that  his  dogs  were 
better  than  the  king's,  and  offered  to  wager 
his  head  that  Help  and  Hold,  for  so  they  were 
named,  would  pull  down  the  white  hind  before 
she  should  cross  the  March  burn.  The  king, 
incensed,  accepted  the  wager,  but  saying  that 
the  head  of  a  Scottish  nobleman  was  too  valu- 
able to  be  risked  for  nothing,  he  staked  against 
it  the  broad  forest  of  Pentland. 

So  the  wager  was  joined,  and  all  the  hounds 
were  called  to  leash  save  Help  and  Hold,  and 
the  slowhounds  used  to  raise  the  deer.  St. 
Clair  was  allowed  to  post  his  animals  as  he 
pleased,  and  all  awaited  the  result.  The  slow- 
hounds  did  their  work,  and  the  white  deer 
flashed  by  Earl  William,  seeming  to  cast  a 
reproachful  glance  upon  him  as  she  passed. 
He  released  his  dogs,  urging  them  on  with 
his  voice  and  galloping  close  at  their  heels. 
Fleet  as  they  were,  the  white  hind  was  faster. 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  271 


and  reached  the  burn  long  before  them.  Into 
the  stream  she  plunged,  and  the  spectators 
felt  that  St.  Clair's  head  was  lost.  But  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream  the  deer  paused,  and  in 
an  instant  the  hounds  were  upon  her.  Their 
terrible  fangs  tore  her  throat,  and  they 
dragged  her  upon  the  bank  just  as  the  hunting 
party  rode  up.  The  deer  reproachfully  turned 
her  fast-glazing  eyes  on  the  earl,  and  from 
that  moment  neither  the  saving  of  his  head 
nor  the  increase  of  his  possessions  could  drive 
away  the  impression  that  a  misfortune  had 
befallen  him  in  the  death  of  the  white  deer. 

In  the  night  in  a  vision  he  saw  again  the 
chase  of  the  white  deer.  This  time  he  was 
aware  that  it  foreboded  disaster,  but  could  not 
avert  it.  When  he  again  saw  before  him  the 
dying  deer,  a  whisper  came  to  him:  "  O  day 
of  infinite  sorrow!  You  have  slain  the  guar- 
dian of  the  brightest  jewel  of  the  house  of 
Roslin!"  The  vision  passed  and  he  awoke. 
A  storm  was  impending.  The  clouds  rolled 
across  the  sky,  the  wind  howled,  the  lightning 
flashed.  A  terrible  tempest  burst  over  Lothian 
and  the  Firth  of  Forth,  and  not  only  devas- 
tated the  lands  of  Roslin,  but  swamped  the 
barge  in  which  his  only  daughter  Rosabelle 
was  returning  from  a  visit  to  her  aunt  in  Fife. 


272    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  barons  of  Roslin  were  anciently  buried 
in  a  vault  in  the  chapel,  each  in  his  armour, 
without  coffins,  and  before  the  Revolution,  the 
vault  contained  the  remains  of  ten  of  the  line 
thus  interred,  and  perfectly  preserved  by  the 
dryness  of  the  situation.  A  superstitious 
belief  arose  that  on  the  night  before  the  death 
of  any  of  the  family,  the  chapel  appeared  to 
be  in  flames,  and  this,  with  part  of  the  legend 
of  Rosabelle,  has  been  woven  into  the  verses 
of  Scott :  — 

"  O'er  Koslin  all  that  dreary  night, 

A  wondrous  blaze  was  seen  to  gleam ; 
'Twas  broader  than  the  watch-fire's  light, 
And  redder  than  the  bright  moonbeam. 

"  It  glared  on  Eoslin's  castled  rock, 

It  rnddied  all  the  copsewood  glen ; 
'Twas  seen  from  Dryden's  groves  of  oak, 
And  seen  from  cavern'd  Hawthornderu 

"  Seem'd  all  on  fire  that  chapel  proud, 

Where  Eoslin's  chiefs  uncoffin'd  lie; 
Each  baron,  for  a  sable  shroud. 
Sheathed  in  his  iron  panoply. 

Seem'd  all  on  fire,  within,  around, 

Deep  sacristy  and  altar's  pale ; 
Shone  every  pillar  foliage-bound, 

And  glimmer'd  all  the  dead  men's  mail. 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  273 


"  Blazed  battlement  and  pinnet  high, 

Blazed  every  rose-carved  buttress  fair,  — 
So  still  they  blaze,  when  fate  is  nigh 
The  lordly  line  of  high  St.  Clair. 

"  There  are  twenty  of  Roslin's  barons  bold 
Lie  buried  within  that  proud  chapelle  j 
Each  one  the  holy  vault  doth  hold  — 
But  the  sea  holds  lovely  Rosabelle ! 

"  And  each  St.  Clair  was  buried  there, 

With  book,  with  candle,  and  with  knell ; 
But  the  sea-caves  rung,  and  the  wild  waves  sung, 
The  dirge  of  lovely  Rosabelle ! " 

Hawthornden 

A  mile  down  the  glen  of  the  Esk  from 
Roslin  Castle  stands  the  house  of  Hawthorn- 
den on  a  high  crag  rising  from  the  south  bank 
of  the  stream.  The  walk  hither  from  Roslin 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  romantic  in 
all  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  perfumed  air  of 
spring  a  delight  to  all  the  senses. 

"...  The  spot  is  wild,  the  banks  are  steep. 
With  eglantine  and  hawthorn  blossomed  o'er, 
Lychnis,  and  daffodils,  and  harebells  blue  : 
From  lofty  granite  crags  precipitous. 
The  oak,  with  scanty  footing,  topples  o'er, 
Tossing  his  limbs  to  heaven ;  and,  from  the  cleft. 


274    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Fringing  the  dark-brown  natural  battlements, 
The  hazel  throws  his  silvery  branches  down : 
There,  starting  into  view,  a  castled  cliff, 
Whose  roof  is  lichened  o'er,  purple  and  green, 
Overhangs  thy  wandering  stream,  romantic  Esk, 
And  rears  its  head  among  the  ancient  trees." 

The  age  of  Hawthornden  is  usually  over- 
stated. The  modem  house  dates  only  from  the 
seventeenth  century.  Attached  to  this  are  frag- 
ments of  a  small  square  keep  whose  age  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine,  but  which  is  probably  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  That  there  was  a  castle 
here  much  earlier  we  know,  as  also  that  the 
perpendicular  cliff  under  the  house  was  carved 
into  caves  used  as  habitations  and  places  of 
refuge  in  very  early  times.  One  room  is  ar- 
ranged as  a  dovecot,  and  is  popularly  called 
King  Robert  Bruce's  library,  but  as  a  Scotch- 
man cannily  remarked,  "  There  wadna  be 
mony  bund  books  then."  These  caves  were 
used  as  refuge  by  Sir  Alexander  Ramsay  of 
Dalhousie  during  the  reign  of  David  II,  when 
the  English  were  in  possession  of  Edinburgh. 

The  most  celebrated  owner  of  the  house  was 
the  poet,  William  Drummond,  friend  of 
Shakespeare  and  Ben  Jonson,  and  the  first 
Scotchman  who  wrote  good  English  verse. 
The  incident  of  his  visit  from  Ben  Jonson, 


The  Castles  of  Edinburghshire  275 


who  walked  all  the  way  from  London,  is  well- 
known. 

Though  of  old  Edinburghshire  boasted  a 
hundred  castles,  the  number  is  now  sadly  re- 
duced. Many  of  those  which  remain  have 
been  so  changed  by  rebuilding  as  to  lose  what- 
ever architectural  interest  they  have  possessed, 
while  others  have  been  removed  by  the  march 
of  progress.  So,  though  we  might  enumerate 
many  other  structures  in  Midlothian  called 
by  the  title  of  castle,  we  will  pass  on  to  other 
fields. 


CHAPTER  XII 


CASTLES  OF  EAST  LOTHIAN 

Dunbar  Castle 

The  fragmentary  ruins  of  the  once  magnif- 
icent Castle  of  Dunbar  stand  on  a  reef  of  trap 
rock  projecting  into  the  sea,  which  makes  its 
way  through  many  fissures  and  caverns  of  the 
crags  to  the  base  of  and  even  under  the  mas- 
sive walls. 

The  buildings  were  once  of  considerable 
extent.  The  main  body  of  the  castle  was 
about  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  by  two  hun- 
dred and  seven  feet,  stretching  its  length 
from  north  to  south.  Southwest  of  the  main 
building  was  what  Grose  supposes  to  have 
been  the  citadel  or  keep,  an  octatgonal  build- 
ing sixty  feet  in  diameter  on  a  perpendicular 
rock  accessible  only  on  one  side,  and  connected 
with  the  main  building  by  a  defended  passage. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  ruins  is  a  large  nat- 
ural cavern  of  black  stone,  called  the  dungeon, 
which,  as  Pennant  says,  "  the  assistance  of  a 

276 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  277 


little  art  had  rendered  a  secure  but  infernal 
prison."  It  is  perhaps  more  likely  to  be  the 
postern  gate  through  which  Sir  Alexander 
Ramsay  and  his  band  succoured  the  garrison 
in  the  famous  siege  of  1337-8. 

The  age  of  Dunbar  goes  far  back  of  his- 
tory. The  name  in  Gaelic  means  "  the  fort 
on  the  height,"  but  the  legend  asserts  that 
Kenneth  I  defeated  the  Picts  at  Scoon 
through  the  aid  of  one  of  his  most  valiant 
soldiers,  whose  name  was  Bar.  On  him  was 
bestowed  the  stronghold  as  a  reward;  hence 
the  name  Dun-Bar,  "  Castle  of  Bar."  How- 
ever this  may  be,  in  961  two  leaders  named 
Dunbar  and  Graeme  led  the  men  of  Lothian 
against  the  Danes  at  Cullen. 

In  856  Kenneth  II  burned  the  castle,  but  it 
speedily  rose  again,  for  it  was  justly  consid- 
ered one  of  the  keys  of  the  Lowlands. 

The  founder  of  the  family  of  Dunbar,  which 
for  four  centuries  maintained  an  almost  regal 
authority  in  the  east  of  Scotland,  was  Cos- 
patrick,  great-grandson  of  Uthred,  Prince  of 
Northumberland.  After  the  Norman  con- 
quest in  1066,  he,  with  other  northern  nobles, 
fled  to  Scotland,  carrying  with  him  Edgar 
Atheling,  the  heir  of  the  Saxon  line,  together 
with  his  mother  and  sisters.   One  of  the  latter, 


278    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Margaret,  became  the  queen  of  Malcolm  Can- 
more,  and  Cospatrick  was  created  Earl  of 
Dunbar.  For  his  exploit  in  defeating  a  for- 
midable band  of  robbers,  of  whom  he  killed 
six  hundred  and  hanged  eighty,  later  present- 
ing the  head  of  their  leader  to  the  king,  he  was 
created  Earl  of  March  and  granted  arms  of 
a  bloody  head.  He  was  also  granted  Cock- 
burnspath  on  the  unusual  tenure  of  keeping 
the  March  and  East  Lothian  free  of  robbers. 
His  successors  prospered,  and  rendered  their 
castle  so  strong  that  Henry  III  and  a  great 
army,  after  reducing  the  powerful  fortress  of 
Berwick  in  1214,  were  unable  to  capture  Dun- 
bar, and  retired  to  England.  Patrick,  earl  at 
this  time,  in  1231,  after  assembling  all  of  his 
family  and  neighbours  to  celebrate  Christmas, 
entertained  them  most  sumptuously  for  four 
days.  At  the  end  of  this  time  he  summoned 
the  Abbot  of  Melrose,  received  extreme  unc- 
tion at  his  hands,  and  assumed  the  monastic 
habit. 

He  died  a  year  later  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Patrick,  who  became  the  most  powerful 
lord  in  Scotland,  and  was  the  leader  of  the 
twenty-four  barons  who  guaranteed  the  treaty 
with  England  in  1244.  He  was  the  head  of 
the  faction  which  caused  the  downfall  of  the 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  279 


Bissets  in  1242,  when  the  king  was  powerless. 
This  was  the  outcome  of  a  royal  tournament 
held  at  Haddington,  where  the  Earl  of  Athole 
bore  down  Walter  Bisset,  head  of  the  family. 
In  revenge,  the  earl's  lodgings  were  fired  that 
same  night,  and  the  earl  and  a  number  of  his 
party  perished. 

The  sixth  Earl  Patrick  died  in  1248,  while 
besieging  Damietta  in  Egypt.  His  son  Pat- 
rick was  a  leader  of  the  English  party  during 
the  troublous  minority  of  Alexander  III.  In 
1285  he  was  visited  at  Dunbar  by  Thomas 
Learmouth  of  Ersildown,  known  for  his  gift 
of  prophecy  as  Thomas  the  Rhymer.  Arriv- 
ing at  the  castle  in  the  evening,  the  earl  jocu- 
larly asked  him  what  strange  thing  would  occur 
on  the  morrow.  The  prophet's  face  immedi- 
ately became  grave,  and  he  replied:  "  Alas  for 
to-morrow,  a  day  of  calamity  and  misery! 
Before  the  twelfth  hour  shall  be  heard  a  blast 
so  vehement  that  it  shall  exceed  those  of  any 
former  period,  —  a  blast  which  shall  strike  the 
nations  with  amazement,  —  shall  humble  what 
is  proud,  and  what  is  fierce  shall  level  with  the 
ground!  The  sorest  wind  and  tempest  that 
ever  was  heard  of  in  Scotland!  "  Thereafter, 
refusing  all  entertainment  and  conversation, 
he  retired  to  his  apartment.    The  next  fore- 


280     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


noon,  the  earl  and  his  friends  watched  the 
weather  until  nearly  noon,  but  without  discov- 
ering anything  untoward.  Summoning  the 
Rhymer,  they  upbraided  him  as  an  impostor, 
and  prepared  to  partake  of  their  dinner.  As 
they  sat  down  at  the  table,  and  the  shadow  on 
the  dial  reached  the  noon  mark,  a  messenger 
on  a  horse  covered  with  foam  dashed  up  to 
the  door  and  demanded  instant  admittance. 
Brought  before  the  earl  and  asked  as  to  his 
message,  he  replied:  "  I  do  indeed  bring  tid- 
ings most  lamentable,  and  to  be  deplored  by 
the  whole  realm  of  Scotland.  Alas,  our  re- 
nowned king  has  ended  his  fair  life  on  yonder 
coast  near  Kinghorn!"  The  Rhymer  ad- 
vanced with  an  air  of  conscious  triumph.  His 
reputation  was  sustained  by  the  king's  fatal 
fall  from  his  horse.  Loudly  he  exclaimed, 
"  This  is  the  scaithful  wind  and  direful  tem- 
pest which  shall  be  such  a  calamity  and  trouble 
to  the  whole  kingdom  of  Scotland!  " 

Patrick,  the  eighth  earl,  was  a  partisan  of 
the  English.  When  Edward  I  entered  Scot- 
land in  1296,  the  earl,  together  with  the 
Bruces,  joined  him,  leaving  his  countess,  Mar- 
jory, daughter  of  Alexander  Comyn,  Earl  of 
Buchan,  in  the  Castle  of  Dunbar.  She  patri- 
otically delivered  it  to  the  Scotch  leaders,  who 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  281 


garrisoned  it  with  the  flower  of  the  nobihty. 
Edward  despatched  Warrenne,  Earl  of  Sur- 
rey, with  twelve  thousand  men  to  recover  the 
fortress.  Conscious  of  the  impossibility  of  with- 
standing such  a  force,  the  Scots  agreed  to  sur- 
render unless  relieved  in  three  days.  The  main 
army  of  Scotland,  forty  thousand  men,  com- 
manded by  the  Earls  of  Buchan,  Lennox,  and 
Mar,  advanced  to  its  support.  On  the  third 
day  they  took  their  position  on  Doon  Hill,  — 
in  the  same  spot  occupied  in  1650  by  General 
Leslie  before  his  defeat  by  Cromwell,  —  and 
waited  for  an  attack.  Despite  the  disparity 
of  the  forces,  the  Earl  of  Surrey  left  part  of 
his  army  to  blockade  the  castle  and  advanced 
to  meet  the  Scotch.  In  order  to  reach  them, 
the  English  had  to  cross  a  valley,  and,  in  doing 
so,  seemed  to  waver.  The  Scotch,  believing 
victory  already  won,  charged  from  their  well- 
chosen  position  with  shouts  and  trumpetings. 
Warrenne  faced  them  undismayed,  and  the  un- 
disciplined troops  broke  and  fled,  being  pur- 
sued with  great  slaughter  to  Selkirk  forest. 
Many  of  the  fugitives  sought  shelter  in  the 
castle,  but  on  the  next  day  Edward  appeared, 
and  Seward,  the  governor,  surrendered.  The 
Earls  of  Athole,  Ross,  and  Menteith,  four 
barons,  thirty-one  knights,  one  hundred  es- 


282    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


quires,  and  many  men  of  lesser  rank  were 
taken.  Later  the  king  gave  Earl  Patrick 
two  hundred  pounds  to  furnish  the  castle  with 
military  stores  and  provisions. 

The  ninth  earl,  also  named  Patrick,  suc- 
ceeded on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1309.  He 
was  also  English  in  his  sympathies,  and  in 
1314  sheltered  Edward  II  after  the  annihila- 
tion of  his  army  at  Bannockburn.  The  king, 
with  a  small  body  of  horsemen,  was  in  flight 
toward  Berwick,  but  was  followed  so  closely 
by  Sir  James  Douglas  and  eighty  picked  ri- 
derls,  that  he  was  very  glad  to  find  refuge  in 
Dunbar.  The  earl  "  full  gently  received  him," 
entertained  him  hospitably,  and  caused  him  to 
come  by  boat  safely  to  Berwick,  a  very  hon- 
ourable proceeding,  as  he  was  well  aware  how 
advantageously  he  might  make  peace  with  his 
cousin.  King  Robert  Bruce,  by  delivering  to 
him  the  person  of  the  King  of  England. 
Shortly  after  the  earl  submitted  to  Bruce,  and 
later  demolished  his  castle  to  prevent  it  from 
falling  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  In 
1333,  however,  he  submitted  to  King  Ed- 
ward III  and  rebuilt  the  fortress  at  his  own 
cost,  to  shelter  an  English  garrison.  The  next 
year  he  was  present  at  Edinburgh  at  the  par- 
liament at  which  Baliol  ceded  all  south  Scot- 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  283 


land  to  the  English  king.  Thereafter  he 
changed  sides  again  and  retired  to  the  High- 
lands with  the  friends  of  Bruce.  His  castle 
was  left  in  charge  of  his  wife,  daughter  of 
Randolph,  Earl  of  Moray,  and  grandniece  of 
King  Robert  Bruce,  called  "  Black  Agnes  " 
from  her  dark  complexion. 

On  January  28,  1337,  WiUiam  de  Monta- 
gue, Earl  of  Salisbury,  commenced  the  most 
famous  siege  in  the  history  of  the  castle.  The 
English  placed  their  engines  in  position  and 
hurled  massive  stones  against  the  walls. 
Agnes  stood  on  the  battlement,  and  when  a 
great  bullet  struck  the  stones  just  below  her, 
she  scornfully  ordered  one  of  her  handmaidens 
to  wipe  off  the  marks  of  the  impact  with  her 
clean  handkerchief,  gaily  observing  that  it  was 
scarcely  gentlemanly  on  the  part  of  Salisbury 
to  throw  dust  in  a  ladj^'s  eyes. 

The  earl,  with  infinite  pains,  advanced  to 
the  foot  of  the  walls  an  immense  shed  covering 
battering  rams,  called  a  sow.  The  lady  taunt- 
ingly cried  out: 

"  Beware,  Montagow, 
For  farrow  shall  thy  sow ! 

and  caused  to  be  hurled  an  immense  fragment 
of  rock,  which  utterly  demolished  the  roof,  and 


284    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


caused  the  inmates  who  remained  alive  to 
scatter  in  all  directions,  thus  speedily  fulfil- 
ling the  prophecy. 

Having  exhausted  his  resources  in  this  direc- 
tion, the  earl  tried  the  power  of  gold,  and 
attempted  to  bribe  the  keeper  of  the  gate  to 
open  to  him  in  the  night.  The  canny  guardian 
assented  and  took  the  purse,  but  then  laid  the 
whole  story  before  the  countess.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  Salisbury  and  his  men  ap- 
proached and  found  the  gate  indeed  open. 
The  earl  pressed  forward  to  enter  first,  but 
John  Copeland,  one  of  his  ofiicers,  rushed 
before  him  and  reached  the  courtyard.  As  he 
did  so  the  portcullis  fell,  but  failed  to  trap 
the  earl.  Agnes  was  watching  from  a  high 
tower,  and  jeeringly  exclaimed:  "  So,  Monta- 
gue! We  had  hoped  to-night  to  have  received 
the  noble  Salisbury  as  our  guest,  and  con- 
sulted with  him  on  the  best  means  to  defend 
a  Scottish  fortress  against  an  English  army; 
but  as  my  lord  declined  the  invitation,  we  will 
e'en  take  counsel  of  ourselves.  Farewell,  Mon- 
tague! With  truth  within,  we  fear  no  treason 
from  without!  " 

The  earl  was  disheartened  by  this  failure 
and  sat  down  to  a  close  blockade  of  the  castle, 
every  avenue  to  which  by  sea  or  land  was 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  285 


closely  watched.  When  the  garrison  was  at 
the  last  extremity,  Alexander  Ramsay  of  Dal- 
housie  determined  to  succour  it.  Embarking 
at  midnight  with  forty  determined  men,  he 
eluded  the  English  flotilla,  and  landed  at  the 
water  postern.  The  garrison,  freed  from  dan- 
ger of  famine,  received  him  most  joyfully,  but 
Ramsay  was  satisfied  with  no  half -relief .  He 
immediately  sallied  forth  from  the  main  gate, 
surprised  and  cut  to  pieces  the  enemy's  ad- 
vanced guard,  and  returned  in  safety.  Salis- 
bury was  so  discouraged  by  this  new  reverse, 
and  the  length  of  the  siege,  that  he  broke 
camp  on  June  10th,  after  nineteen  weeks 
blockade,  and  retired  to  England. 

George,  eleventh  Earl  of  Dunbar  and 
March,  quarrelled  with  the  Duke  of  Albany, 
and  fled  to  England.  While  he  sojourned  in 
the  English  camp,  his  castle  and  titles  were 
sequestrated,  and  passed  nominally  to  the 
Crown,  actually  to  Albany,  who  was  created 
Earl  of  March.  When  Earl  George  made 
peace  with  his  sovereign  it  was  at  the  expense 
of  Dunbar,  which  remained  a  fief  of  Al- 
bany. 

The  Duke  of  Albany,  brother  and  chief 
counsellor  of  James  III,  is  thus  depicted  by 
Lindsay  of  Pitscottie:   "He  was  hardy  and 


286    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


manly,  and  wise  so  that  they  [the  barons  of 
Scotland]  stood  in  more  awe  of  him  than  of 
the  king's  grace,  for  his  manhood.  This  Al- 
exander was  of  a  mid  stature,  broad  shoul- 
dered, and  well  proportioned  in  all  his  mem- 
bers, and  specially  in  his  face;  that  is  to  say, 
broad-faced,  red-nosed,  great-eared,  and  of 
very  awful  countenance,  when  he  pleased  to 
show  himself  to  his  unfriends."  He  was  as 
ambitious  as  he  was  bold,  and  almost  as  strong 
in  the  kingdom  as  the  king  himself. 

In  1475,  not  for  the  first  time,  he  became 
the  object  of  his  brother's  suspicions,  and  was 
cast  into  Edinburgh  Castle,  fated  to  death. 
His  friends  helped  him  to  escape,  as  is  else- 
where more  particularly  related,  and  he  fled 
by  sea.  On  the  way  he  stopped  at  Dunbar, 
and  put  his  castle  in  order,  then  resumed  his 
journey  to  France,  where  he  married  the 
Duchess  of  Bouillon,  and  remained  until  1482. 
Meanwhile  the  castle  was  taken,  the  garrison 
escaping  by  sea.  On  his  return  at  the  head 
of  an  English  force,  in  1482,  he  recovered  his 
estates,  but  the  next  year  was  forced  to  flee 
again  from  Scotland,  leaving  an  English  gar- 
rison in  Dunbar,  who  were  able  to  hold  it 
against  all  the  efforts  of  the  Scotch. 

On  September  21,  1484,  a  truce  of  three 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  287 


years  between  England  and  Scotland  was  con- 
cluded at  Nottingham.  By  a  singular  clause 
in  the  agreement,  Dunbar  was  to  have  six 
months  truce  only,  after  which,  by  giving  six 
weeks'  notice,  the  Scottish  king  was  to  be  at 
liberty  to  recover  the  castle  by  force,  if  his 
strength  were  sufficient.  Although  his  par- 
liament repeatedly  advised  James  to  give 
notice,  and  besiege  this  castle,  he  did  not  feel 
strong  enough  to  do  so  until  1486,  when  he 
laid  siege  to  it  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and 
soon  recovered  it,  without  causing  the  English 
to  feel  that  the  truce  was  broken. 

In  1488  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed, 
directing  the  Castle  of  Dunbar  to  be  "  casten 
down  and  utterly  destroyed,  in  such  manner 
as  to  render  repairs  utterly  impossible,"  "  be- 
cause it  has  done  great  skaith  in  time  bygane, 
and  it  were  great  danger  to  the  realme  if  it 
were  negligently  kepit  or  reparit  again."  By 
bitter  experience  the  Scots  had  found  that  the 
English  were  far  more  skilled  in  sieges  than 
themselves,  and  their  own  captured  fortresses 
had  more  than  once  been  thorns  in  the  flesh. 
Nevertheless  it  was  not  until  1567  that  this 
ordinance  was  actually  put  into  execution. 

During  the  regency  of  Mary  of  Guise, 
Dunbar  was  garrisoned  by  her  French  troops. 


288    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


This  was  a  source  of  much  annoyance  both  to 
Scotch  and  Enghsh,  and  in  the  treaty  of  1560, 
between  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  Francis  and 
Mary,  it  was  agreed  that  all  the  French  gar- 
risons should  be  dismissed,  except  sixty  men 
each  in  Dunbar  and  Inchkeith,  and  that  the 
new  works  at  Dunbar  should  be  demolished. 
The  English  army,  marching  to  Berwick,  took 
good  care  to  see  that  this  was  done. 

Dunbar  is  a  name  especially  associated  with 
the  troublous  years  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots. 
In  1566,  after  the  murder  of  Rizzio,  Bothwell 
aided  her  escape  from  Holyroodhouse,  and 
after  a  short  sojourn  at  Seton,  she  moved  to 
Dunbar.  Here  she  was  speedily  joined  by  so 
many  of  her  friends  that  she  gained  a  tem- 
porary ascendance  over  the  authors  of  her 
secretary's  death.  Again,  in  November  of  that 
year,  she  sojourned  six  days  in  Dunbar.  In 
April,  1567,  Bothwell,  who  had  been  constable 
of  Dunbar,  obtained  a  "  ratification  "  of  the 
"  Queen's  Castle  and  Strength  of  Dunbar " 
and  the  "  Captaincie  "  of  the  fortress,  in  part 
recompense  of  his  "  great  service  and  exorbi- 
tant expenses,"  and  also  because  his  friends, 
kinsmen,  tenants  and  servants  for  the  most 
part  dwelt  adjacent  to  the  said  castle  and 
strength.    Under  his  guardianship,  Mary  was 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  289 


twice  more  here.  The  last  time  was  when  she 
fled  from  Borthwick,  disguised  as  a  page,  and 
barely  escaped  Home's  troopers  by  refuge  in 
its  walls.  Here  her  proclamation  called  to- 
gether the  feeble  and  unwilling  army  which 
dissolved  in  panic  at  Carberry  Hill,  leav- 
ing her  a  prisoner  destined  for  Lochleven 
Castle. 

The  Laird  of  Whitelaw  still  held  Dunbar 
for  Bothwell,  but  the  regent  brought  cannon 
from  Edinburgh,  and  the  place  surrendered 
on  favourable  terms.  Then  came  the  resur- 
rection of  the  act  of  1488,  and  the  margin  of 
the  record  of  the  Council  contains  this  incom- 
plete note:  "  26th  December,  1567.  Ordains 
the  Inche  and  Dunbar  to  be  demolished  and 
taken  down,  in  respect  of  K.  Jas  — By 
this  politic  move,  the  regent  destroyed  Both- 
well's  strength  by  virtue  of  an  ancient  statute, 
without  incurring  hostility  for  his  own  govern- 
ment. 

It  stands  to-day,  the  ruins  of  that  wrecking, 
and  was  until  lately  free  to  all  visitors.  But 
it  is  now  used  as  a  rifle  range,  and  in  conse- 
quence much  closed  to  sightseers.  Even  this 
year  of  1907,  great  tumult  has  been  caused  in 
the  town  by  further  restrictive  measures,  and 
it  may  soon  be  entirely  closed  to  the  public. 


290    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Innerwick  Castle 

Innerwick  Castle,  in  the  parish  of  the  same 
name,  and  five  miles  from  Dunbar,  seems  to  be 
a  ruin  of  great  antiquity  and  was  formerly  of 
considerable  extent.  The  earliest  portion  was 
a  simple  keep,  but  this  was  later  added  to  on 
the  east,  where  originally  was  an  open  court. 
It  was  a  position  of  considerable  strength, 
standing  on  a  high  sandstone  cliff,  with  sheer 
faces  on  three  sides.  On  the  fourth  was  a 
deep  ditch  cut  in  the  rock. 

Of  its  history  little  is  known.  It  belonged 
successively  to  the  Stuarts  and  Hamiltons. 
Together  with  Thornton,  a  keep  of  Lord 
Home's,  and  Dunglas,  a  tower  a  few  miles  off, 
it  was  destroyed  by  Somerset's  expedition  in 
1548.  Patten's  diary  gives  an  account  which, 
modernized  in  the  spelling,  I  quote  as  a  good 
picture  of  the  savage  warfare  of  that  period: 

"  Tuesday,  the  6th  of  September. 
"  Our  Pioneers  were  early  at  their  work 
again  about  the  castle  [Dunglas,  which  had 
been  taken  the  day  before]  ;  whose  walls  were 
so  thick  and  foundation  so  deep,  and  thereto 
set  upon  so  craggy  a  plot,  that  it  was  not  an 
easy  matter  soon  to  underdig  them. 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  291 


"  Our  army  dislodged  and  marched  on.  In 
the  way  we  should  go,  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
Dunglas  northwards,  there  were  two  Piles  or 
Holds,  Thornton  and  Anderwick  [Innerwick], 
both  set  on  craggy  foundation,  and  divided,  a 
stone's  cast  asunder,  by  a  deep  gut,  wherein 
ran  a  little  river. 

"  Thornton  belonged  to  the  Lord  Home, 
and  was  kept  then  by  one  Tom  Trotter. 
Whereunto,  my  Lord's  Grace,  over  night,  for 
summons,  sent  Somerset,  his  Herald.  Towards 
whom,  four  or  five  of  this  Captain's  prickers, 
with  their  gads  ready  charged,  did  right  ha- 
stily direct  their  course :  but  Trotter  both  hon- 
estly defended  the  herald,  and  sharply  rebuked 
his  men ;  and  said,  for  the  summons,  '  he  would 
come  and  speak  with  my  Lord's  Grace  him- 
self.' 

"  Notwithstanding,  he  came  not;  but 
straight  locked  up  sixteen  poor  soldiers,  like 
the  soldiers  of  Dimglas,  fast  within  the  house, 
took  the  keys  with  him,  and  commanding  them 
they  should  defend  the  house  and  tarry  within 
(as  they  could  not  get  out)  till  his  return, 
which  should  be  on  the  morrow  with  munition 
and  relief ;  he,  with  his  prickers,  pricked  quite 
his  ways. 

"  Anderwick  pertained  to  the  Lord  of  Ham- 


292    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


bleton  [Hamilton]  and  was  kept  by  his  son 
and  heir  (whom,  of  custom,  they  call,  the  Mas- 
ter of  Hambleton),  and  eight  more  with  him; 
gentlemen,  for  the  most  part,  we  heard  say. 

"  My  Lord's  Grace,  at  his  coming  nigh, 
sent  unto  both  these  Piles;  which  upon  sum- 
mons, refusing  to  render,  were  straight  as- 
sailed. Thornton,  by  a  battery  of  four  of  our 
great  pieces  of  ordnance,  and  certain  of  Sir 
Peter  Mewtys's  hackbutters  to  watch  the  loop- 
holes and  windows  on  all  sides;  and  Ander- 
wick,  by  a  sort  [company]  of  these  hackbut- 
ters alone.  Who  so  well  bestirred  them,  that 
where  these  keepers  had  rammed  up  their  outer 
doors,  cloyed  and  stopped  up  their  stairs 
within,  and  kept  themselves  aloft  for  defence 
of  their  house  about  the  battlements;  the 
hackbutters  got  in,  and  fired  the  underneath, 
whereby  being  greatly  troubled  with  smoke 
and  smother,  and  brought  in  desperation  of 
defence,  they  called  pitifully,  over  their  walls, 
to  my  Lord's  Grace,  for  mercy :  who,  notwith- 
standing their  great  obstinacy  and  the  en- 
sample  others  of  the  enemy  might  have  had 
by  their  punishment,  of  his  noble  generosity, 
and  by  these  words,  making  half  excuse  for 
them,  *  Men  may  sometimes  do  that  hastily 
in  a  gere  [business],  whereof,  after,  they  may 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  293 


soon  repent  them,'  did  take  them  to  grace,  and 
therefore  sent  one  straight  to  them.  But,  ere 
the  messenger  came,  the  hackbutters  had  got 
up  to  them,  and  killed  eight  of  them  aloft. 
One  leapt  over  the  walls,  and,  running  more 
than  a  furlong  after,  was  slain  without,  in  a 
water. 

"  All  this  while,  at  Thornton,  our  assault 
and  their  defence  was  stoutly  continued:  but 
well  perceiving  how  on  the  one  side  they  were 
battered,  mined  at  the  other,  kept  in  with 
hackbutters  round  about,  and  some  of  our  men 
within  also  occupying  all  the  house  under 
them,  for  they  had  likewise  shopped  [shut] 
up  themselves  in  the  highest  of  their  house, 
and  so  to  do  nothing,  inward  or  outward, 
neither  by  shooting  of  base  [small  cannon], 
whereof  they  had  but  one  or  two,  nor  tumbling 
of  stones,  the  things  of  their  chief  annoyance, 
whereby  they  might  be  able  any  while  to  resist 
our  power  or  save  themselves;  they  plucked 
in  a  banner  that  afore  they  had  set  out  in 
defiance,  and  put  out  over  the  walls  a  white 
linen  clout  tied  on  a  stick's  end,  crying  all, 
with  one  tune,  for  'Mercy!'  but  having  an- 
swer by  the  whole  voice  of  the  assailers,  '  They 
were  traitors !  It  was  too  late ! '  they  plucked 
in  their  stick,  and  sticked  up  the  banner  of 


294    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


defiance  again,  shot  off,  hurled  stones,  and  did 
what  else  they  could,  with  great  courage  on 
their  side,  and  little  hurt  of  ours.  Yet  then, 
being  assured  by  our  earnesty  that  we  had 
vowed  the  winning  of  their  hold  before  our 
departure,  and  then  that  their  obstinacy  could 
deserve  no  less  than  their  death,  they  plucked 
in  their  banner  once  again,  and  cried  upon 
*  Mercy  1 '  And  being  generally  answered, 
'Nay,  nay!  Look  never  for  it!  for  ye  are 
arrant  traitors ! '  then,  made  they  petition  that 
'  If  they  should  needs  die,  yet  that  my  Lord's 
Grace  would  be  so  good  to  them,  as  they  might 
be  hanged:  whereby  they  might  somewhat 
reconcile  themselves  to  God,  and  not  to  die 
in  malice,  with  so  great  danger  of  their  souls ! ' 
A  policy,  sure,  in  my  mind,  though  but  of 
gross  heads,  yet  of  a  fine  device.  Sir  Miles 
Partridge  being  nigh  about  this  Pile,  at  the 
time,  and  spying  one  in  a  red  doublet,  did 
guess  he  should  be  an  Englishman ;  and,  there- 
fore, the  rather  came  and  furthered  this  peti- 
tion to  my  Lord's  Grace.  Which  then  took 
effect.  They  came  and  humbled  themselves  to 
his  Grace:  whereupon,  without  more  hurt, 
they  were  but  commanded  to  the  Provost  Mar- 
shal. 

"  It  is  somewhat  here  to  consider,  I  know 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  295 


not  whether  the  destiny  or  hap  of  man's  hfe. 
The  more  worthy  men,  the  less  offenders,  and 
more  in  the  Judge's  grace,  were  slain ;  and  the 
beggars,  the  obstinate  rebels  that  deserved 
nought  by  cruelty,  were  saved. 

"  To  say  on  now.  The  house  was  soon  after 
so  blown  with  powder,  that  more  than  one 
half  fell  straight  down  to  rubbish  and  dust, 
the  rest  stood,  all  to  be  shaken  with  rifts  and 
chinks.  Anderwick  was  burned,  and  all  the 
houses  of  office,  and  stacks  of  corn  about  them 
both. 

"  While  this  was  thus  in  hand,  my  Lord's 
Grace,  in  turning  but  about,  saw  the  fall  of 
Dunglas,  which  likewise  was  undermined  and 
blown  with  powder. 

"  This  done,  about  noon,  we  marched  on, 
passing  soon  after  within  gunshot  of  Dunbar, 
a  town  standing  long-wise  upon  the  seaside: 
whereat  is  a  castle,  which  the  Scots  count  very 
strong,  that  sent  us  divers  shots  as  we  passed; 
but  all  in  vain." 

Seton  Palace 

Not  far  from  Prestonpans,  a  mile  and  a  half 
inland  from  the  fishing  village  of  Cockenzie, 
stood  for  centuries  Seton  Palace,  the  archi- 
tectural pride  of  East  Lothian.    Not  one 


296    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


stone  now  remains  upon  another;  the  beauti- 
ful gardens  and  terraces,  a  favourite  resort  of 
monarchs  in  the  heyday  of  its  owners'  pride, 
are  utterly  obliterated,  and  the  ruined  walls 
of  one  of  the  most  magnificent  mansions  of 
Scotland  have  long  since  been  built  into  other 
and  meaner  fabrics. 

A  castle  of  the  Setons  occupied  the  site  for 
centuries,  but  was  destroyed  in  Hertford's  in- 
vasion in  1544.  The  famous  palace  was 
erected  by  George,  fourth  Lord  Seton,  a  zeal- 
ous supporter  of  Queen  Mary.  It  was  the 
finest  mansion  in  Scotland  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  was  a  favourite 
resort  of  royalty,  having  been  visited  by  Mary, 
Queen  of  Scots,  James  VI,  and  Charles  I. 

The  spot  has  many  historical  associations. 
Cardinal  Beaton  was  imprisoned  there  for  a 
while  and  was  released  by  Maitland  of  Leth- 
ington,  father  of  Queen  Mary's  famous  sec- 
retary. Mary  herself  often  visited  here,  and 
Mary  Seton,  one  of  her  four  maids,  was  con- 
nected with  the  house. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  1566-7,  Mary, 
who  had  been  at  Bothwell's  castle  of  Dunbar, 
arrived  at  Seton,  accompanied  by  Archbishop 
Hamilton  of  St.  Andrews,  the  Earls  of  Both- 
well,  Argyle,  and  Huntly,  Lords  Fleming  and 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  297 


Livingstone,  Secretary  Maitland  and  others, 
to  the  number  of  a  hundred.  The  queen, 
though  her  murdered  husband  was  but  six 
days  dead,  evinced  no  grief,  nor  showed  any 
while  she  remained  at  Seton.  She  played  with 
Both  well  in  shooting  at  the  butts  against 
Huntly  and  Lord  Seton.  These  latter,  losing, 
paid  forfeit  by  furnishing  a  dinner  one  day 
at  Tranent.  Time  fled  away  pleasantly,  and 
Mary  remained  at  Seton  until  the  7th  of 
March.  On  the  8th  she  was  in  Edinburgh, 
but  the  next  night  she  rode  to  Seton  again 
and  slept  there.  On  the  29th  or  30th  she  came 
again  and  stayed  a  week,  entering  on  the  5th 
of  April  into  a  nuptial  contract  with  Both  well, 
as  her  enemies  allege.  The  document  was 
written  by  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Earl  of 
Huntly,  to  whose  sister  Bothwell  was  married; 
Huntly  thus  consenting  to  the  divorce  of  his 
own  sister  on  pretence  of  consanguinity. 

Another  frequent  visitor  to  Seton  was 
James  VI.  As  he  left  Edinburgh,  on  another 
5th  of  April,  in  the  year  1603,  on  his  way  to 
ascend  the  throne  of  England,  he  passed  the 
palace  at  the  very  moment  when  there  issued 
from  the  house  the  funeral  procession  of  the 
first  Earl  of  Winton,  one  of  his  mother's  most 
devoted  adherents.    The  king  halted  his  train 


298    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


and  seated  himself  on  a  fragment  of  masonry 
still  standing,  to  watch  the  passage  to  the 
tomb.  He  wept  profusely  and  declared  that 
he  had  lost  a  faithful  and  loyal  friend.  The 
king  returned  to  Scotland  in  1617,  and  spent 
the  night  at  Seton,  being  greeted  most  loyally 
by  the  third  earl  and  his  adherents.  His  re- 
ception included  the  reading  of  an  English 
poem  of  four  hundred  and  twenty-two  lines  by 
Drummond  of  Hawthornden,  and  a  Latin  one 
of  two  hundred  and  eighty-six  lines  by  John 
Gilhe  of  Gillieston.  Truly  even  a  prince  has 
trials ! 

A  few  years  later  this  same  earl  entertained 
Charles  I  on  a  progress.  The  second  earl, 
who,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  had  re- 
signed title  and  estates  to  his  younger  brother, 
was  still  alive,  and  his  second  son,  twelve  years 
old,  welcomed  the  king  in  a  Latin  oration. 
Charles  was  so  pleased  with  this  that  he 
knighted  the  boy,  and  then  said,  "  Now,  Sir 
Alexander,  see  that  this  does  not  spoil  your 
school;  by  the  appearance  you  will  be  a 
scholar."  The  boy  stammered,  "  No,  please 
your  Majesty,"  and  returned  to  his  studies 
with  increased  diligence. 

In  1715  a  party  of  the  Adventurers  under 
Brigadier  Mcintosh  of  Borlum,  who  had  oc- 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  299 


cupied  Cromwell's  citadel  at  Leith,  moved  by 
the  threats  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  retired 
from  that  position  and  entrenched  themselves 
at  Seton.  They  drove  back  troops  sent  from 
Edinburgh  to  expel  them,  and  had  determined 
to  hold  the  house  permanently.  This  did  not 
suit  the  Earl  of  Mar,  who  ordered  them  to 
march  into  England.  General  Wightman 
thereupon  occupied  the  place  and  demolished 
the  courtyard  walls.  The  earl  had  joined  the 
Adventurers,  but  refused  to  march  into  Eng- 
land with  them,  urging  the  folly  of  leaving 
the  Duke  of  Argyle  in  their  rear,  and  desiring 
them  to  reduce  the  duke  and  thus  gain  Scot- 
land. He  afterwards  reconsidered  his  decision, 
entered  England  and  was  captured  at  Preston. 
He  was  condemned  to  be  beheaded,  and  re- 
mitted to  the  Tower  of  London  with  forfeit 
of  his  honours  and  estates.  Refusing  to  make 
any  application  for  mercy,  he  succeeded  in 
cutting  the  bars  of  his  cell  and  escaped  to 
Italy,  where  he  died  more  than  thirty  years 
later. 

This  earl  and  his  brother  were  born  several 
years  before  the  marriage  of  their  parents. 
He  was  of  a  fiery  disposition,  and  quarrelled 
so  bitterly  with  his  father  when  less  than  twelve 
years  of  age,  that  he  ran  away  to  France  and 


300    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


had  no  communication  with  family  or  friends 
for  many  years.  During  this  time  he  earned 
his  living  as  a  bellows-blower  and  blacksmith's 
helper.  His  brother  and  then  his  father  died, 
and  he  knew  nothing  of  it.  A  relative  took 
possession  of  the  estates,  alleging  that  the  son 
was  illegitimate,  and  kept  them  till  1707,  when 
the  earl  returned  and  brought  an  action  against 
the  usurper.  The  Supreme  Court  finally  gave 
him  possession  in  1711,  but  his  enjoyment  was 
short,  as  he  was  attainted  of  treason  five  years 
later,  when  only  twenty-five  years  old. 

The  estate  was  sold  to  a  company  of  real 
estate  speculators,  with  many  other  confiscated 
estates.  Overloaded  with  mansion-houses  for 
which  they  could  find  no  outlet,  they  went 
bankrupt,  and  the  lands  were  sold  in  lots.  The 
ruinous  palace  was  torn  down  by  the  purchaser 
and  built  into  a  house  of  no  pretension.  We 
may  gain  some  idea  of  it  from  Pinkie  house, 
which  was  built  as  a  reduced  model  of  Seton 
Palace. 

Preston  Tower 

Preston  Tower  is  an  L-keep  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  It  contains  the  usual  basement  vault, 
connected  with  the  upper  floors  only  by  a  trap 
in  the  roof.    The  main  entrance  was  on  the 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  301 


first  floor,  guarded  by  a  projecting  wooden 
structure  and  staircase,  the  corbels  and  joist- 
holes  of  which  still  remain.  Above  this  was 
another  wooden  projection  carried  on  im- 
mense corbels,  which  further  protected  the 
door  of  access.  The  wing  contained  private 
apartments.  Under  the  floor  of  the  lord's 
room,  off  the  main  hall,  was  a  prison,  the  stair 
to  which  was  gained  through  a  trap  in  the 
floor.  Under  this  prison  was  a  dungeon, 
reached  only  by  a  hatch  in  the  prison  floor, 
and  without  light,  but  ventilated  by  flues  in 
the  walls.  The  present  doorway  to  this  dun- 
geon is  of  recent  date. 

In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  house  being 
too  small,  two  stories,  smaller  in  diameter,  were 
added  to  the  top.  The  castle  has  for  ages 
belonged  to  the  Hamiltons.  It  was  burned 
by  Hertford  in  1544,  by  Cromwell  in  1650, 
and  again  accidentally  in  1666,  when  it  was 
abandoned. 

Hailes  Castle 

Hailes  Castle,  near  East  Linton,  stands  on 
a  rocky  point  between  the  Tyne  and  another 
small  stream  which  flows  into  it  from  the 
north.  The  castle  dates  from  the  thirteenth 
century,  and  is  very  large,  being  two  hundred 


302    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


and  forty  feet  long  and  ninety  feet  wide.  It 
has  a  square  keep  at  the  point  of  the  promon- 
tory and  a  very  long  quadrangular  courtyard, 
with  walls  about  nine  feet  thick.  The  court- 
yard contains  a  roofless  hall  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Great  portions  of  the  walls  have 
disappeared,  and  the  remains,  though  impos- 
ing, are  very  ruinous.  A  remarkable  feature 
is  a  postern  staircase  leading  down  to  the  river. 
This  had  a  trap  in  the  middle  in  the  shape  of 
a  deep  pit  crossed  by  a  drawbridge.  The  cas- 
tle belonged  to  the  Hepburns,  and  many  parts 
of  the  building  were  erected  by  James,  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  husband  of  Queen  Mary.  Here  she 
was  conducted  by  him,  after  he  had  seized  her 
near  Linlithgow. 


Whittingham  Tower 

About  two  miles  from  East  Linton,  and  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  Hailes  Castle,  from 
which  it  is  hidden  by  Traprain  Law,  stands 
Whittingham  Tower,  a  well  preserved  and 
rather  ornamental  L-keep  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. It  is  quite  small,  the  main  building 
being  only  thirty-one  by  twenty-three  and  one 
half  feet,  and  about  forty  feet  high.  A  square 
wing  for  the  staircase  projects  to  the  east  from 


Castles  of  East  Lothian 


303 


one  of  the  narrow  sides,  contrary  to  the  usual 
custom  of  placing  the  wings  on  the  long  sides. 
The  doorways,  windows,  and  parapets  are  all 
ornamented  with  moldings  similar  to  many 
English  Tudor  structures.  The  parapets  have 
embrasures,  and  a  complete  walk  inside. 
South  of  the  castle  are  some  ruined  vaults,  per- 
haps powder  magazines,  and  a  long  platform 
for  cannon. 

In  the  Tower  of  Whittingham  was  laid  the 
plot  for  the  murder  of  Darnley.  Here,  in 
January,  1566-7,  came  the  Earl  of  Morton  to 
visit  his  cousin,  Patrick  Douglas,  whose  arms 
are  still  visible  on  the  lintel  of  the  entrance 
door.  From  the  castles  of  Hailes  and  Leth- 
ington  near  by  came  their  owners,  Bothwell 
and  Secretary  Lethington,  and  the  murder  was 
then  planned.  Tytler  says,  writing  of  a  later 
occasion,  "  It  was  only  a  year  and  a  half  before 
that  in  this  fatal  house,  the  conference  had 
been  held  between  Lethington,  Bothwell  and 
Morton,  in  which  the  king's  murder  was  de- 
termined. Bothwell  was  now  a  fugitive  and 
an  outlaw;  but  his  associates  in  guilt,  the 
same  Lethington  and  Morton,  now  received 
Moray  at  Whittingham,  and  cordially  sympa- 
thized with  him  when  he  expressed  his  horror 
for  the  crime,  and  his  resolution  to  avenge  it." 


304    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Stoneypath  Tower 

Stoneypath  Tower  is  two  miles  from  Whit- 
tingham,  on  the  Papana  Burn.  It  is  a  very 
dilapidated  structure,  but  occupies  a  most  pic- 
turesque location,  standing  on  a  high  and 
wooded  bank  above  the  brook.  The  tower  is 
L-shaped,  and  offers  few  peculiarities  of  con- 
struction. The  staircase  in  the  angle  is  inside 
the  wall  instead  of  being  projected  into  the 
angle.  The  fireplace  in  the  hall  is  about  eight 
by  ten  feet  and  served  also  as  the  kitchen, 
being  furnished  with  a  window,  and  a  stone 
sink  and  drain.  The  entrance  was  through  the 
fireplace  arch.  The  building  may  be  early 
sixteenth  century,  but  there  is  little  to  deter- 
mine this  fact.  The  tower  belonged  first  to 
the  Lyles  and  later  to  the  Douglases. 

Elphinstone  Castle 

Two  miles  south  of  Tranent,  on  a  hill  over- 
looking Ormiston  and  the  Tyne  valley,  stands 
Elphinstone  Castle,  a  simple  keep  of  the  fif- 
teenth century,  and  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able of  its  kind.  Thanks  to  a  modern  roof,  it 
is  well  preserved  and  bids  fair  to  remain  so. 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  305 


It  is  an  oblong  keep,  fifty  feet  by  thirty-five, 
and  about  sixty  feet  high.  Inside  it  contains 
a  round  vaulted  basement  which  originally  had 
a  loft  resting  on  corbels,  a  hall  with  a  high 
pointed  vault,  and  two  stories  above  with 
wooden  floors.  The  walls  are  about  ten  feet 
thick  and  contain  a  most  remarkable  maze  of 
staircases,  passages  and  chambers.  To  such 
an  extent  are  the  walls  honeycombed  that  they 
resemble  those  of  the  Pictish  brochs,  and  it  is 
probable  that  this  is  due  to  a  revival  of  this 
architectural  tradition.  Stairs,  kitchen,  serv- 
ants' rooms  and  guest-rooms,  with  fireplaces, 
wall-closets  and  dressing-rooms,  are  all  to  be 
found  in  these  walls.  Alongside  the  fireplace 
in  the  great  hall  are  two  private  rooms,  one 
above  the  other.  From  the  upper  one  a  pas- 
sage leads  behind  the  fireplace  flue,  and  in 
this  is  a  window  into  the  flue.  As  there  is 
another  window  in  the  front  of  the  flue,  this 
gives  a  most  unusual  form  of  spy-hole  into  the 
hall.  These  spy-holes  are  common  in  Scotch 
castles,  and  there  is  another  one  into  this  same 
fireplace  from  a  spiral  stair  in  the  wall.  The 
upper  part  of  the  fireplace  was  probably  also 
used  for  curing  hams,  etc.,  and  access  was 
gained  by  the  passage  mentioned. 


306    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Falside  Castle  ^ 

Seven  miles  east  of  Edinburgh,  overlooking 
a  plain  which  stretches  along  the  shores  of  the 
Forth,  stands  the  Castle  of  Falside.  Under 
its  walls,  in  September,  1547,  was  fought  the 
battle  of  Pinkie,  between  the  troops  of  Somer- 
set and  the  Regent  Arran.  That  the  castle 
stands  at  all  to-day  is  simply  due  to  its  solid- 
ity of  construction,  for  the  accounts  of  the 
battle  state  that  its  total  demolition  was 
averted  only  "  through  its  first  floor  and  roofs 
being  arched  over  with  stone." 

The  castle  consists  of  an  original  keep  about 
forty  feet  by  thirty,  to  the  south  of  which  an 
L-shaped  structure  has  been  added,  making 
a  compact  block  with  a  reentrant  angle  at  the 
southwest.  The  keep  is  fourteenth  or  fifteenth 
century  work,  and  the  additions  were  made 
before  the  battle  of  Pinkie.  The  ruins  are 
rather  picturesque,  with  their  round  staircase 
tower,  and  remains  of  turrets. 

Tester  Castle 

Yester  Castle,  on  Hopes  Water,  in  the  par- 
ish of  Yester,  belonged  to  the  Gifford  family 
and  was  erected,  according  to  Cosmo  Innes,  in 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  307 


1268.  It  was  originally  triangular  in  shape 
and  stands  on  a  high  promontory  between 
two  streams.  The  third  side  is  defended  by 
a  ditch  fifty  feet  wide  and  twenty  deep.  It 
has  been  a  lofty  structure.  The  remaining 
walls  are  over  six  feet  thick  and  about  forty 
in  height.  No  traces  of  the  internal  arrange- 
ments can  be  found. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  castle 
is  a  subterranean  chamber  known  as  "  The 
Goblin  Hall,"  referred  to  in  "  Marmion."  It 
is  situated  under  the  northern  side,  the  rear  of 
the  original  castle,  and  lies  mainly  outside  the 
walls.  It  is  thirty-seven  feet  long,  thirteen 
wide,  and  nineteen  high,  with  a  pointed  vault 
as  a  roof.  It  is  entered  from  the  castle  by  a 
staircase  defended  by  three  barred  doors.  At 
the  north  end  is  a  sloping  vaulted  passage 
thirty-three  feet  long,  at  right  angles  to  the 
hall.  This  also  is  defended  with  three  barred 
doors,  one  of  which  had  a  portcullis.  The 
outer  door  opens  on  the  steep  bank  of  the 
stream,  half  way  down  the  slope.  Opposite 
this  passage  is  another  similar  one,  but  it  was 
never  completed.  Instead  the  builders  cut 
under  it  a  steep  stair,  descending  forty-four 
feet  into  the  rock  to  a  well,  now  filled  with 
stones.    Between  these  two  passages  in  the 


308    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


main  chamber  is  a  fireplace  with  a  sloping 
flue  running  upwards.  This  chamber  is  un- 
doubtedly a  military  post,  and  may  possibly 
have  been  intended  as  a  place  of  last  resort, 
with  means  for  escape  into  the  stream  bed. 


CHAPTER  XIII 


CASTLES  OF  EAST  LOTHIAN 

(Continued) 
Tantallon 

The  fortress  of  Tantallon  occupies  a  bold 
promontory  at  the  mouth  of  the  Firth  of 
Forth,  about  three  miles  east  of  North  Ber- 
wick. It  is,  like  Doune,  a  magnificent  speci- 
men of  the  quadrangular  castles  built  about 
the  end  of  the  fourteenth  and  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth  centuries.  By  the  nature  of  its 
site,  a  precipitous  point  surrounded  on  three 
sides  by  the  German  Ocean,  it  was  necessary 
to  defend  it  artificially  only  on  its  fourth  or 
western  front.  The  entrance  was  over  a  draw- 
bridge and  through  a  strong  deep  gateway 
leading  under  a  central  tower,  which  formed 
an  independent  castle  or  keep.  On  each  side 
of  this  is  a  huge  battlemented  curtain  wall 
twelve  feet  thick  and  fifty  feet  high,  falling 
back  at  an  angle  and  flanked  by  the  project- 

309 


310    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


ing  keep.  At  the  north  and  south  extremities 
are  large  round  towers  on  the  brink  of  the  per- 
pendicular rocks.  The  buildings  forming  the 
other  three  sides  of  the  quadrangle  have  been 
undermined  and  fallen  into  the  sea,  save  at 
the  north,  where  ruins  still  remain.  The  inte- 
rior is  a  maze  of  broken  staircases,  ruined 
chambers  and  dismal  subterranean  dungeons. 

Before  the  west  front  lies  a  deep  ditch  cut 
in  the  rock,  and  in  front  of  this  is  a  large  level 
court  five  hundred  feet  long  and  two  hundred 
wide,  protected  by  an  elaborate  series  of 
ditches  and  mounds.  The  roadway  runs  for 
a  considerable  distance  between  these  outworks 
and  a  burn  which  flows  through  a  rocky  ravine 
to  the  south.  It  is  thus  completely  commanded 
by  the  outworks,  as  well  as  the  towers  of  the 
castle  itself.  The  entrance  archway  passed 
completely  through  the  keep  as  at  Doune.  On 
one  side  was  a  guardroom,  on  the  other  a 
straight  stair  leading  to  the  upper  stories. 
The  interior  of  the  keep  is  entirely  gone.  The 
curtain  walls  make  an  angle  with  and  are  com- 
manded by  the  projecting  keep,  as  well  as  by 
towers  at  each  end.  The  staircases  and  pas- 
sages in  their  thickness,  which  were  filled  in 
solid  by  James  V,  have  now  been  cleared  out. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  enceinte  w^ere  the 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  311 


hall  and  other  apartments,  with  vaults  below 
and  bedrooms  above.  The  angle  towers  also 
contained  numerous  rooms.  Traces  of  struc- 
tures erected  against  the  curtains  still  remain, 
and  they  were  probably  continued  all  round 
the  quadrangle.  The  new  work  done  by 
James  V  in  1528  is  still  visible  in  some  of  its 
details.  His  object  was  to  make  the  walls  as 
solid  as  possible,  to  prevent  them  from  being 
breached  by  artillery.  To  this  end  he  filled 
soUd  all  the  stairways  and  passages  in  the  cur- 
tains, and  they  have  but  recently  been  cleared 
out.  The  entire  west  front  of  the  centre  tower 
was  cased  in  new  masonry  of  soft  green  tufa, 
probably  chosen  as  less  liable  to  splinter  under 
the  impact  of  cannon  balls  than  the  original 
freestone.  The  fine  ancient  gateway  was 
blocked  up,  and  only  a  narrow  passage  was 
left  in  the  wall  in  front  of  it.  Embrasures  for 
guns  at  each  side  sweep  the  ditch  and  flank 
the  curtains.  Other  provisions  for  guns  were 
made  at  the  gateway  at  the  south  end  of  the 
main  outer  ditch,  where  they  would  sweep  the 
road  of  approach. 

The  exact  date  of  the  erection  of  Tantallon 
is  unknown.  Scott  says  that  it  "is  beheved  to 
have  belonged  in  more  ancient  times  to  the 
Earls  of  Fife,  the  descendants  of  MacduflP. 


312    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


It  was  certainly  in  the  possession  of  Isabel, 
the  last  countess  of  that  renowned  line,  and 
was  comprehended  in  the  settlement  which  she 
made  of  her  honours  and  estates  upon  Robert 
Stuart,'  Earl  of  Menteith,  whom  she  recog- 
nized by  that  deed  as  her  lawful  and  nearest 
heir  in  1371."  This  Robert,  the  third  son  of 
Robert  II,  became  afterwards  Earl  of  Fife, 
Duke  of  Albany  and  Regent  of  Scotland. 
His  son  Murdoch,  second  duke,  and  also  re- 
gent while  James  I  was  a  prisoner  in  England, 
succeeded  in  1419.  In  1424  he  was  arrested 
at  Doune  with  his  whole  family  and  all  his 
adherents.  His  duchess,  Isabella,  daughter  of 
the  Earl  of  Lennox,  was  taken  as  a  prisoner 
from  her  hall  to  the  dungeon  beneath  it,  and 
afterwards  committed  to  Tantallon,  while  he 
was  hurried  away  to  Stirling.  With  two  of 
his  sons  and  the  Earl  of  Lennox,  he  was 
beheaded  the  next  year. 

Two  years  later  these  dungeons  became  a 
prison  for  Alexander,  Earl  of  Ross  and  Lord 
of  the  Isles,  who  had  headed  a  rebellion  in  the 
Highlands.  Unsuccessful,  he  submitted  to 
James  I,  appearing  in  St.  Giles  Church  in 
Edinburgh  on  Easter  Day  clothed  only  in  his 
plaid,  and  delivering  up  his  naked  sword  in 
token  of  unreserved  submission.  Nevertheless 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  313 


he  was  incarcerated  in  Tantallon  in  charge  of 
George,  fourth  Earl  of  Angus,  the  king's 
nephew.  This  nobleman  was  granted  the  cas- 
tle and  the  adjacent  lands,  which  were  consti- 
tuted a  barony  in  1452.  His  son,  Archibald 
"  Bell-the-Cat,"  was  confirmed  in  their  pos- 
session in  1479.  Later  castle  and  barony- 
passed  to  the  younger  branch  of  the  family 
and  with  the  growth  of  its  power  became  si 
constant  menace  to  the  throne. 

James  V,  a  youth  of  fifteen,  escaped  from 
the  power  of  the  Douglases  in  June,  1528,  as 
related  elsewhere,  and  began  war  on  the  fam- 
ily. After  the  passage  of  a  bill  of  attainder, 
which  forfeited  Tantallon,  as  well  as  the  other 
possessions  of  the  house  of  Douglas,  twenty 
thousand  men  were  sent  to  invest  Tantallon. 
This  castle  was  almost  the  only  one  in  private 
possession  which  was  strong  enough  to  resist 
artillery,  and  was  itself  equipped  with  great 
guns,  the  embrasures  for  which  are  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  small  musketry  loopholes  of 
most  of  the  Scotch  castles  which  belonged  to 
private  owners. 

The  great  strength  of  the  castle,  which  was 
indeed  impregnable  at  the  time  of  its  erection, 
is  indicated  by  the  old  proverb  of  the  district, 
"Ding  doon  Tantallon?    Big  a  brig  to  the 


314    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Bass."  On  this  occasion  the  first  half  of  the 
saying  proved  true  enough,  for  after  twenty 
days'  siege,  the  thunders  of  "  thrawin-mouthed 
Meg  and  her  Marrow,"  and  other  great  guns, 
proved  unavaihng,  and  the  besiegers  withdrew. 
These  guns,  including  "  two  great  botcards 
and  two  moyans,  two  double  falcons  and  four 
quarter-falcons,"  were  borrowed  from  the 
Duke  of  Albany,  and  to  ensure  their  return, 
three  of  the  king's  noblemen  were  impigno- 
rated  at  Dunbar.  James  withdrew  to  Edin- 
burgh, leaving  a  small  detachment  to  protect 
his  artillery.  Earl  Archibald  had  not  been 
present  during  the  siege,  for  he  declined  to 
trust  himself  within  walls  in  war,  holding  to 
the  maxim  of  his  ancestors  that  "  it  was  better 
to  hear  the  lark  sing  than  the  mouse  cheep." 
Emerging  from  his  retirement  in  Berwick- 
shire, he  crushed  the  detachment,  captured  the 
leader,  and  then  escorted  him  and  his  artillery 
some  distance  towards  Edinburgh,  giving  him 
a  message  to  the  king  that  he  was  loyal  to 
the  throne  and  hostile  only  to  its  evil  advisers. 
Despite  this  magnanimity,  war  against  him 
was  successfully  prosecuted  and  he  was  forced 
to  flee  to  England.  In  December  of  the  same 
year  Tantallon  surrendered  for  lack  of  sup- 
plies.   James  immediately  put  the  castle  into 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  315 


a  good  state  of  defence.  Says  Lindsay  of 
Pitscottie:  "The  King  gart  garnish  it  with 
men  of  war  and  artillery,  and  put  in  a  new 
captain,  to  wit,  Oliver  Sinclair;  and  caused 
masons  to  come  and  ranforce  the  walls,  which 
were  left  waste  before,  as  trances  and  thorow 
passages,  and  made  all  massey  work,  to  the 
effect  that  it  should  be  more  able  in  time  com- 
ing to  any  enemies  that  would  come  to  pur- 
sue it."  This  work  is  very  evident  to-day,  as 
previously  stated. 

After  the  death  of  James  in  1542,  the  Earl 
of  Angus  was  allowed  to  return  from  exile  and 
given  back  his  possessions.  He  made  the  cas- 
tle stronger  than  ever,  but  never  regained  his 
own  power,  though  he  lived  here  till  his  death 
in  1558.  He  was  so  meagrely  furnished  with 
necessities  that  he  was  unwilling  to  receive  the 
English  Ambassador,  Sir  Ralph  Sadler,  who 
sought  personal  safety  in  the  castle  during  the 
progress  of  his  unpopular  negotiations  on  be- 
half of  the  young  Prince  Edward  and  infant 
Mary.  He  sent  his  servant  to  the  castle  and 
received  the  report  that  it  was  "  cleanly  unfur- 
nished both  of  bedding  and  all  manner  of 
household  stuff,  and  none  to  be  bought  or 
hired,  nor  no  manner  of  provision  to  be  made 
thereof,  nor  any  kind  of  victual  nearer  than 


316    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


this  town,  which  is  twenty  miles  off."  Sadler, 
however,  went  there,  and  observes  that  though 
Tantallon  is  poorly  furnished,  and  "  slendour 
lodging  in  it,  yet,  I  assure  you,  it  is  of  such 
strength  as  I  must  not  fear  the  malice  of  mine 
enemies,  and  therefore  do  I  now  think  myself 
to  be  out  of  danger." 

In  1572  another  English  ambassador  re- 
sided there,  Killegrew,  who  came  with  secret 
instructions  from  Queen  Elizabeth  to  cause 
the  execution  of  the  captive  Queen  Mary  in 
such  a  manner  as  not  to  create  a  dangerous 
popular  commotion. 

In  1639  Wilham,  eleventh  Earl  of  Angus, 
first  Marquis  of  Douglas,  here  made  stand  for 
king  and  church  against  the  Covenanters,  and 
for  the  first  time  a  hostile  force  "  dang  doon 
Tantallon,"  and  garrisoned  it  against  the  king. 
In  1651  the  Captain  of  the  Bass  captured  an 
English  store-ship  bound  for  Leith  and  im- 
mured its  crew  in  Tantallon.  General  Monk 
decided  to  reduce  the  fortress,  with  three  regi- 
ments of  horse  and  foot.  He  planted  his  ar- 
tillery on  high  ground  to  the  southwest  and 
summoned  Alexander  Seton,  commandant  of 
the  garrison,  to  surrender.  Seton  elected  to 
resist.  Two  days'  bombardment  with  mortars 
had  no  effect,  and  heavy  siege  guns  were 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  317 


brought  into  operation.  After  twelve  days 
continuous  battering  a  breach  was  made  in  the 
curtain,  the  stones  filhng  the  ditch.  The  be- 
siegers entered,  only  to  find  the  garrison  safe 
in  the  central  tower,  which  was  so  impossible 
of  reduction  that  they  were  allowed  to  capit- 
ulate on  favourable  terms.  This  was  the  last 
appearance  of  Tantallon  in  history.  It  re- 
mained habitable  until  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  it  was  dismantled  by 
Sir  Hew  Dalrymple,  who  bought  it  of  the 
Duke  of  Douglas,  and  left  it  a  ruin  for  his 
heirs,  who  still  own  it.  Scott  has  admirably 
described  its  former  condition  in  "  Mar- 
mion  " :  — 

"  Tantallon  vast, 
Broad,  massive,  high,  and  stretching  far, 
And  held  impregnable  in  war. 
On  a  projecting  rock  it  rose 
And  round  three  sides  the  ocean  flows, 
The  fourth  did  battle  walls  enclose. 

And  double  mound  and  fosse  ; 
By  narrow  drawbridge,  outworks  strong, 
Through  studded  gates,  and  entrance  long, 

To  the  main  court  they  cross. 
It  was  a  wide  and  stately  square. 
Around  were  lodgings  fit  and  fair. 

And  towers  of  various  form. 
Which  on  the  coast  projected  far, 
And  broke  its  lines  quadrangular ; 


318    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Here  was  square  keep,  there  turret  high, 
Or  pinnacle  that  sought  the  sky, 
Whence  oft  the  warder  could  destroy 
The  gathering  ocean-storm." 

Though  now  long  ruinous,  there  was  a 
period  in  the  last  century  when  the  castle  was 
for  a  short  time  inhabited.  A  gang  of  thieves, 
under  the  leadership  of  a  sailor  whose  vessel 
had  come  to  grief  on  the  island  of  Fidra,  chose 
it  as  a  place  of  refuge.  They  made  entrance 
and  exit  by  a  rope  ladder,  which  was  carefully 
concealed  when  not  in  use.  Sallying  forth 
under  cover  of  darkness,  they  obtained  neces- 
sary supplies  and  provisions  by  plundering 
farmhouses,  stealing  sheep,  and  similar  prac- 
tices. Notwithstanding  the  ease  of  this  mode 
of  life,  the  members  of  the  band  deserted  one 
by  one,  until  only  the  sailor  was  left.  He  ob- 
tained employment  in  a  neighbouring  quarry, 
and  might  have  lived  in  the  castle  indefinitely 
had  he  not  been  careless.  Some  girls  working 
in  the  fields  one  evening  saw  a  red  cap  at  one 
of  the  upper  windows.  They  thought  they  had 
seen  a  brownie,  and  told  their  story  broadcast. 
As  other  people  had  seen  lights  at  night,  and 
a  gardener  engaged  in  planting  ivy  about  the 
walls  had  been  pelted  by  bits  of  mortar  from 


tCastles  of  East  Lothian 


319 


above,  the  idea  that  the  castle  was  haunted  had 
gained  ground.  The  tenant  of  the  farm,  how- 
ever, beheved  in  no  such  nonsense.  He  led  a 
party  of  his  workmen  into  the  vaults,  and  soon 
discovered  the  offender,  who  was  tried  and 
sentenced  to  transportation. 

The  Bass 

Nearly  opposite  Tantallon,  and  about  two 
miles  off  shore,  is  the  Bass,  a  stupendous  in- 
sulated rock,  a  mile  in  circumference  and  four 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  high.  Toward  the 
north  it  is  almost  absolutely  perpendicular,  but 
on  the  south  side  the  surface  is  conical,  with 
steep  slopes  toward  the  sea.  On  the  top  there 
are  about  seven  acres  of  short  grass,  which 
once  afforded  pasturage  to  twenty  or  thirty 
sheep.  Under  the  rock  there  is  a  great  cavern 
thirty  feet  high  and  five  hundred  feet  long, 
which  passes  entirely  through  it  from  north- 
west to  southeast.  Within  the  cavern,  the  en- 
trance to  which  is  a  hundred  feet  high,  is  a 
dark  pool  which  holds  water  enough  to  drown 
an  incautious  visitor  even  at  the  lowest  ebb  of 
the  tide.  The  only  landing  place  is  on  the 
southeast  side,  and  is  commanded  by  the  castle. 


320    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


which  occupies  the  lowest  of  three  terraces  into 
which  the  slope  of  the  top  is  divided. 

Beague  visited  this  castle  during  the  regency 
of  Mary  of  Guise  and  thus  describes  it  in 
1607:  "Now,  the  island  in  which  the  castle 
stands  is  itself  an  impregnable  rock,  of  a  small 
extent  and  oval  figure,  cut  out  by  the  hands  of 
nature;  it  has  only  one  avenue  that  leads  to 
it,  and  that  is  towards  the  castle,  but  so  very 
difficult  and  uneasy,  that  by  reason  of  the 
hidden  sands  that  surround  the  rock,  nothing 
can  approach  it  but  one  little  boat  at  a  time. 
The  island  is  so  exorbitantly  uneven,  that  till 
one  reach  the  wall  of  the  castle,  he  cannot 
have  sure  footing  in  any  one  place;  so  that  — 
as  I  have  often  observed  —  those  that  enter  it 
must  climb  up  by  the  help  of  a  strong  cable 
thrown  down  for  the  purpose,  and  when  they 
have  got  with  much  ado  to  the  foot  of  the  wall, 
they  sit  down  in  a  wide  basket,  and  in  this 
posture  are  mounted  up  by  strength  of  hands. 
There  is  no  getting  into  this  wonderful  for- 
tress by  any  other  means.  Formerly,  it  had 
a  postern-gate  which  facilitated  the  entry,  but 
it  is  now  thrown  down,  and  fortified  in  such 
a  manner  as  is  incredible."  The  tale  of  "  hid- 
den sands  "  is  altogether  untrue,  as  the  chan- 
nels all  about  the  rock  are  of  enormous  depth. 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  321 


The  landing  is  now  easier,  as  steps  have  been 
cut  in  the  rock,  but  it  is  always  difficult  and 
often  dangerous. 

The  earliest  stories  of  the  rock  are  religious. 
At  the  end  of  the  sixth  century  it  is  said  to 
have  been  selected  as  a  refuge  by  St.  Baldred, 
"  Doctor  of  the  Picts  "  and  apostle  of  East 
Lothian.  He  is  reputed  to  have  been  a  pupil 
of  St.  Mungo  of  Glasgow,  and  his  successor. 
When  he  retired  to  the  Bass,  his  parish  em- 
braced wide  districts  of  the  mainland  and  he 
performed  numerous  miracles.  When  he  died 
the  representatives  of  three  mainland  parishes, 
Aldhame,  Tynninghame  and  Preston,  came  to 
bury  his  remains.  Unable  to  agree,  they  were 
instructed  to  pray  for  illumination  over  night. 
When  morning  came,  they  found  three  biers  in 
place  of  one,  each  with  a  body  decently  cov- 
ered, all  so  similar  that  no  man  could  tell  the 
difference.  All  strife  being  thus  miraculously 
settled,  each  party  joyfully  bore  off  a  body 
to  solemn  interment  in  its  own  church.  How- 
ever we  may  regard  the  stories  of  St.  Baldred, 
a  chapel  undoubtedly  existed  on  the  rock  in 
very  early  times.  The  Bass  formed  a  parish 
by  itself,  and  the  "  kirk  in  the  Crag  of  the 
Bass  "  was  dedicated  to  the  saint  in  1542  by 
order  of  Cardinal  Beaton.    This  was  the  same 


322    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


one  which  to-day  stands  as  a  ruin  midway 
between  the  castle  and  the  top  of  the  rock. 
It  stands  on  the  traditional  site  of  St.  Bal- 
dred's  cell,  and  was  used  for  divine  service 
until  after  the  Reformation,  falling  into  disuse 
because  the  number  of  inhabitants  became  so 
small  as  to  render  it  unnecessary.  The  Bass 
is  now  included  in  the  parish  of  North  Ber- 
wdck,  to  the  incumbent  of  which  is  annually 
due  from  it  a  stipend  of  twelve  solan  geese 
"  entire  with  feathers." 

The  Bass  has  long  been  famous  for  these 
birds.  Says  Grose,  "  This  rock  is  more  partic- 
ularly famous  for  the  great  flock  of  sea  fowls 
which  resort  thither  in  the  months  of  JNIay  and 
June,  the  surface  of  it  being  almost  covered 
with  their  nests,  eggs  and  young  birds.  The 
most  esteemed  among  these  birds  is  the  Solon 
Goose  and  the  Kittie  Waicke,  there  being  only 
one  other  place,  that  is  an  island  in  the  west 
of  Scotland,  called  Ailscy,  where  these  geese 
breed;  and  from  these  two  places  the  country 
is  furnished  with  them  during  the  months  of 
July  and  August."  Of  these  geese  Defoe 
has  given  us  the  following  account:  "They 
feed  on  the  herrings,  and  therefore  'tis  ob- 
served they  come  just  before,  or  with  them, 
and  go  away  with  them  also;  though  'tis  evi- 


e 

Castles  of  East  Lothian 


323 


dent  they  do  not  follow  them,  but  go  all  away 
to  the  north,  whither  none  knows  but  them- 
selves, and  He  that  guides  them.  As  they 
live  on  fish,  so  they  eat  like  fish,  which,  to- 
gether with  their  being  so  exceeding  fat,  makes 
them,  in  my  opinion,  a  very  coarse  dish,  rank, 
and  ill-relished,  and  soon  gorging  the  stcmiach. 
But  as  they  are  looked  upon  there  as  a  dainty, 
I  have  no  more  to  say;  all  countries  have 
their  several  gusts  and  particular  palates. 
Onions  and  garlick  were  dainties,  it  seems,  in 
Egypt,  and  horse-flesh  is  so  to  this  day  in 
Tartary,  and  much  more  may  a  solan  goose 
be  so  in  other  places.  It  is  a  large  fowl, 
rather  bigger  than  an  ordinary  goose;  'tis 
duck-footed,  and  swims  as  a  goose;  but  the 
bill  is  long,  thick  and  pointed  like  a  crane  or 
heron,  only  the  neck  much  thicker,  and  not 
above  five  inches  long.  Their  laying  but  one 
egg,  which  sticks  to  the  rock,  and  will  not  fall 
off,  unless  pulled  off  by  force,  and  then  not  to 
be  stuck  on  again,  though  we  thought  them 
fictions,  yet,  being  there  at  the  season,  we 
found  true;  as  also  their  hatching  by  holding 
the  egg  fast  in  their  foot.  What  Nature 
meant  by  giving  these  singularities  to  a  crea- 
ture that  has  nothing  else  in  it  worth  notice, 
we  cannot  determine." 


324    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


For  at  least  five  centuries  this  rock  belonged 
to  the  family  of  Lauder  of  the  Bass.  Part  of 
it  was  claimed  by  the  Priory  of  St.  Andrews, 
but  in  1316  William  Lamberton,  Bishop  of 
St.  Andrews,  deeded  this  to  Robert  Lauder, 
one  of  the  companions  of  Sir  William  Wal- 
lace. The  family  tenaciously  held  on  to  its 
singular  possession,  and  stubbornly  refused  to 
sell  it  to  various  Scotch  monarchs  who  desired 
it.  James  VI  visited  it  in  1581,  at  a  time 
when  it  appears  to  have  been  temporarily  in 
his  possession,  and  requested  the  laird  to  sell 
it  to  him,  but  the  uncompromising  answer  was, 
"  Your  Majesty  must  e'en  resign  it  to  me,  for 
I'll  have  the  auld  craig  back  again."  Not 
until  1671  was  the  Crown  able  to  purchase  it, 
at  the  high  price  of  four  thousand  pounds. 

For  centuries  the  Bass  was  a  place  of  the 
utmost  security,  used  alike  as  a  stronghold 
and  a  prison.  In  1405,  Robert  III  placed  his 
son,  the  Earl  of  Carrick,  afterwards  James  I, 
on  the  Bass  in  order  to  protect  him  from  the 
designs  of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  Albany. 
A  vessel  being  prepared  to  convey  the  young 
prince  to  France,  where  he  was  to  receive  an 
education,  he  embarked  together  with  the  Earl 
of  Orkney  and  a  small  suite.  There  was  a 
truce  at  the  time  between  England  and  Scot- 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  325 


land,  so  that  no  danger  was  apprehended  from 
the  voyage;  yet  off  Flamborough  Head  an 
armed  merchantman  of  Wye  captured  the 
prince's  vessel  and  bore  him  off  to  an  incar- 
ceration which  lasted  for  nineteen  years.  This 
misfortmie  —  the  very  one  the  anxious  father 
had  wished  to  avoid  —  caused  his  death  in 
Rothesay  Castle  when  informed  of  it  in  1406. 
James  I  returned  from  his  long  captivity  in 
1424,  when  Walter  Stuart,  eldest  son  of  Mur- 
doch, Duke  of  Albany  was  committed  a  pris- 
oner to  the  Bass. 

About  1570  the  Earl  of  Morton  attempted 
to  secure  the  rock  and  his  designs  were  ex- 
posed to  the  Regent  Moray  by  Wishart  of 
Pitarrow  in  the  following  words:  "I  hear 
say  my  Lord  of  Morton  is  trafficking  to  get 
the  house  of  the  Bass,  which,  if  he  does,  he  will 
stop  some  devices  your  Grace  knows,  and 
therefore  were  I  in  your  Grace's  stead,  I 
would  go  between  the  cow  and  the  corn.  I 
tell  you  the  auld  Crag  is  a  good  starting  hole, 
at  least  it  will  serve  to  keep  them  that  you 
would  be  sure  of." 

This  opinion  was  later  acted  on,  for  when 
the  government  obtained  the  rock  a  century 
later,  it  was  constituted  a  state  prison,  the 
chapel  becoming  the  magazine  for  the  garri- 


326    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


son.  In  the  reigns  of  Charles  II  and  James  II 
numbers  of  the  turbulent  Covenanters  were 
consigned  to  safe  custody  here.  The  names 
of  thirty-nine  are  preserved,  beginning  with 
Robert  Gillespie  in  1672  and  ending  with  John 
Spreul,  a  fanatical  apothecary  of  Glasgow, 
who  entered  in  July,  1681,  and  was  released 
in  May,  1687.  In  this  month  was  also  released 
Major  Learmouth,  a  Covenanting  officer,  who 
was  pardoned  on  account  of  faihng  health. 
Other  well-known  prisoners  of  this  character 
were  Sir  Hugh  and  Sir  George  Campbell  of 
Cessnock  and  Alexander  Gordon  of  Earlston, 
while  the  best-known  of  all  was  John  Black- 
adder,  the  elder,  minister  of  Troqueer,  father 
of  Colonel  John  Blackadder.  He  was  out- 
lawed in  1674  and  fled  to  Flanders,  but  later 
returned.  On  April  5th,  1681,  he  was  "  made 
prisoner  in  his  house  at  Edinburgh  "  and  after 
a  form  of  examination,  sent  to  the  Bass. 
After  four  years  of  rigid  imprisonment  his 
health  finally  gave  way.  The  Privy  Council, 
in  hot  haste,  gave  permission  to  him  to  leave, 
on  condition  of  confining  himself  to  Edin- 
burgh, but  it  was  too  late,  and  he  died  on  the 
Bass  in  January,  1686.  His  grave,  with  a 
poetical  inscription,  is  in  North  Berwick 
churchyard,  while  his  gloomy  cell  on  the  west- 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  327 


ern  side  of  Bass  Castle,  with  three  small  iron- 
barred  windows,  is  still  shown  to  curious  vis- 
itors. 

Other  noted  Covenanters  confined  here  were 
James  Mitchell,  who  attempted  to  assas- 
sinate Archbishop  Sharp  of  St.  Andrews  in 
the  High  Street  of  Edinburgh  in  July,  1667, 
and  Eraser  of  Brae,  a  noted  preacher.  Both 
were  brought  here  on  January  30th,  1677,  in 
charge  of  a  guard  of  twelve  horse  and  thirty 
foot.  Curious  to  relate,  all  these  "  martyrs  of 
the  Bass,"  as  their  co-religionists  designate 
them,  stayed  in  prison  sometimes  for  years  of 
their  own  accord  or  obstinacy,  as  all  were 
offered  liberty  if  they  would  promise  not  to 
molest  the  government. 

There  were  prisoners  on  the  Bass  who  were 
not  Covenanters.  A  Quaker  of  Leith  was 
sent  here  for  railing  at  his  parish  minister; 
George  Young,  a  Roman  Catholic  priest,  was 
immured  for  an  unknown  offence.  A  third 
was  John  Philip,  Episcopal  curate  of  Queens- 
ferry,  who  lost  his  position  for  refusing  the 
"  Test."  On  his  arraignment  before  the  Privy 
Council  in  1683  he  was  accused  of  denouncing 
the  Duke  of  York  as  a  "  great  tyrant  detest- 
able to  the  subjects;  "  for  asserting  that  the 
Bishop  of  Edinburgh  and  the  Lord  Advocate 


328    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


were  "  bloody  and  cruel  men,  and  that  he 
hoped  to  see  them  suffer  for  it;  "  and  for  say- 
ing that  the  Earl  of  Argyle  had  been  unjustly 
forfeited.  For  these  heinous  offences  he  was 
fined  two  thousand  pounds  sterling,  to  be  paid 
within  a  fortnight,  declared  infamous  and 
sentenced  to  life  imprisonment  on  the  Bass. 

The  garrison  of  the  Bass  refused  to  submit 
at  the  Revolution,  and  the  deputy-governor, 
Charles  Maitland,  held  out  for  James  II  until 
1690,  when  he  surrendered.  The  Stuart  garri- 
son held  possession  for  only  a  few  months, 
however.  The  Jacobite  prisoners  mutinied  and 
gained  possession  of  the  rock.  By  the  aid  of 
friends  on  shore  they  obtained  provisions  and 
fitted  out  a  galley,  by  means  of  which  they 
plundered  merchant  vessels,  exacted  tribute 
from  every  ship  which  came  within  reach  of 
their. guns,  and  maintained  themselves  against 
the  Crown  for  four  years.  In  1694,  two  ships 
of  war  sent  by  William  III,  assisted  by 
numerous  small  vessels,  destroyed  their  galley 
and  blockaded  the  rock.  Although  reduced  to 
extremities,  they  obtained  easy  terms  of  sur- 
render through  a  stratagem  of  their  leader, 
David  Blair.  A  deputation  having  been  sent 
to  treat  with  him,  he  ranged  about  the  walls 
all  the  hats  and  coats  of  the  garrison,  placed 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  329 


on  muskets,  leading  the  enemy  to  believe  that 
the  place  was  well  garrisoned.  He  happened 
to  have  a  few  bottles  of  excellent  French  wine 
and  brandy  and  some  biscuits,  with  which  he 
regaled  his  visitors.  Convinced  that  the  castle 
was  well  manned  and  provisioned,  the  Privy 
Council  granted  him  easy  terms,  and  thus  ob- 
tained possession  of  the  last  Jacobite  strong- 
hold. 

The  fortifications  were  dismantled  in  1701 
and  now  only  one  corroded  cannon  remains. 
The  buildings,  though  roofless,  are  externally 
entire,  and  may  be  entered  by  three  flights  of 
steps,  formerly  guarded  by  gates,  now  gone. 
The  garden  of  the  castle  still  produces  some 
flowers,  though  the  cherry  trees  mentioned  by 
Fraser  of  Brae  are  gone.  Visitors  were  for- 
merly made  "  burgesses  of  the  Bass  "  by  drink- 
ing the  disagreeable  water  of  the  well  and  re- 
ceiving a  flower  out  of  the  garden.  Now  its 
only  citizens  are  the  rabbits,  the  sheep,  and  the 
innumerable  wild  fowl,  whose  sudden  flight 
when  disturbed  fills  the  air  like  the  snow  of 
the  wintry  storm. 

In  1902  a  lighthouse  was  erected  at  the  top 
of  the  castle  ruins,  but  all  damage  done  at  this 
time  was  scrupulously  repaired,  so  that  the 
castle,  with  the  exception  of  the  governor's 


330    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


house,  has  practically  the  same  appearance  as 
before  the  Northern  Lights  Commissioners 
began  their  operations.  Access  to  the  island 
is  now  much  easier  than  formerly,  as  not  only 
is  there  a  good  landing  for  the  supply  of  the 
light,  but  the  hotel-keeper  at  Canty  Bay  owns 
a  launch,  which  carries  parties  to  the  island  at 
a  charge  of  ten  shilhngs  per  trip,  irrespective 
of  the  number  of  passengers.  It  is  therefore 
quite  feasible  to  visit  Dirleton,  Tantallon  and 
the  Bass  in  one  day  from  Edinburgh. 

Dirleton  Castle 

Two  miles  from  North  Berwick,  and  easily 
reached  from  there  by  a  service  of  motor  omni- 
buses, lies  the  little  village  of  Dirleton,  clus- 
tered at  the  foot  of  its  castle.  The  scene  is 
romantic;  before  the  gray  and  battered  ruins, 
standing  in  their  beautiful  gardens,  lies  the  vel- 
vety village  green,  and  about  this,  under  tall 
trees  and  in  pleasant  little  gardens,  stand  the 
houses  of  the  feudal  village. 

The  date  of  erection  of  Dirleton  Castle  is 
unknown.  It  was  a  strong  place  in  1297, 
when  Edward  I  invaded  Scotland.  It  then 
belonged  to  the  family  of  De  Vaux  or  De 
Vallibus,  barons  powerful  in  both  kingdoms. 


I 

Castles  of  East  Lothian  331 


In  July,  1298,  it  was  besieged  by  Anthony 
Beck,  the  martial  Bishop  of  Durham,  on  the 
part  of  Edward  I.  It  made  such  an  obstinate 
resistance  that  the  English  troops  exhausted 
their  supplies,  and  only  escaped  starvation  by 
subsisting  on  the  beans  and  peas  which  they 
found  growing  in  the  fields:  a  proof  that  agri- 
culture was  at  that  early  date  in  a  forward 
state  in  southern  Scotland.  After  a  long  siege 
the  castle  surrendered,  and  was  for  a  while  an 
English  stronghold.  Many  entries  regarding 
its  disposal  and  upkeep  are  found  is  the  Eng- 
lish records.  The  battle  of  Bannockburn  sum- 
marily cut  short  their  occupation  of  it. 

For  several  centuries  afterward,  history  is 
silent  regarding  the  castle.  The  line  of  De 
Vallibus  became  extinct  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, the  castle  passing  in  1340  to  Sir  John 
Haliburton  by  marriage.  In  1440,  Sir  Walter 
Haliburton,  Lord  High  Treasurer  of  Scot- 
land, was  created  a  peer  as  Lord  Dirleton. 
A  century  later  the  male  line  again  failed, 
and  the  castle  passed  into  the  line  of  Ruth- 
ven.  The  last  Earl  of  Gowrie  here  hospitably 
entertained  James  VI,  a  fugitive  from  the 
plague,  and  treated  him  to  a  histrionic  repre- 
sentation of  Robin  Hood's  adventures.  Then 
followed  the  Gowrie  conspiracy,  when  it  was 


J 

332    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


alleged  that  a  plot  was  made  to  seize  the  per- 
son of  James  at  Perth  on  August  5,  1600. 

The  possession  of  Dirleton  was  the  bribe 
held  out  by  the  unhappy  earl  to  Logan,  his 
principal  associate.  This  person  seems  to 
have  exceedingly  coveted  the  estate,  as  he 
wrote  to  a  friend,  "  I  care  not  for  all  the  other 
land  I  have  in  the  kingdom,  if  I  may  grip 
of  Dirleton,  for  I  esteem  it  the  pleasantest 
dwelling  in  Scotland."  But  it  never  came  to 
him,  for  it  was  part  of  Ruthven's  forfeit, 
and  "  James  VI,"  says  Camden,  "  gave  it  to 
Sir  Thomas  Erskine,  Captain  of  the  English 
Guard,  for  his  happy  valour  in  preserving 
him  from  the  traitorous  attempts  of  Gowrie, 
first  creating  him  Baron  Dirleton,  afterwards, 
in  1606,  Viscount  Fenton,  —  the  first  viscount 
that  ever  was  in  Scotland." 

In  the  Civil  War,  Dirleton  was  occupied 
by  a  party  of  Scottish  moss-troopers.  Against 
them  in  1650  came  Monk  with  five  guns; 
joined  by  Lambert,  the  siege  was  entered  on 
in  form;  after  a  gallant  defence,  the  place 
fell,  and  the  commandant,  Waite,  with  two 
officers,  were  executed  under  martial  law. 
The  English  demolished  the  castle  and  it  was 
never  occupied  again. 

The  castle  stands  on  a  rock,  which,  though 


Castles  of  East  Lothian  333 


not  high,  is  well  defined  in  its  extent,  and 
gave  a  firm  foundation,  proof  against  mining 
operations.  Aromid  this  was  sunk  a  deep 
moat  at  least  fifty  feet  wide.  This  strength 
may  account  for  the  scanty  records  of  siege, 
as  only  a  great  army,  well  equipped,  could 
hope  for  success  against  so  strong  a  place. 

Of  the  thirteenth-century  castle  destroyed 
by  Beck,  there  remain  only  a  square  and  two 
round  towers  at  the  southwest  and  a  founda- 
tion at  the  southeast.  These  were  lighted  only 
by  small  loops,  and  the  rooms  in  the  great 
round  tower  are  polygonal  vaults,  with  enor- 
mously thick  walls. 

The  fifteenth-century  castle  was  reached  by 
a  bridge  on  piers  across  the  moat.  The  last 
eleven  feet  were  spanned  by  a  drawbridge, 
and  when  this  was  raised  it  left  no  doorsill 
visible  on  the  castle  front.  Besides  this,  the 
entrance  had  gates  and  a  portcullis,  with 
machicolations  above  and  a  defensive  opening 
in  the  floor  of  the  portcullis  room.  On  the 
east  side  of  the  castle  there  is  a  great  range 
of  ruinous  buildings.  The  great  hall  was 
enormous,  seventy-two  feet  by  twenty-five, 
but  one  wall  has  fallen  out.  The  cellar  has 
the  usual  storerooms,  and  a  prison.  Beneath 


334    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


this,  entered  only  by  a  hole  in  the  floor,  is  a 
dungeon  for  the  most  important  prisoners. 

The  north  wing  is  entirely  gone.  On  the 
southwest  are  buildings  intended  as  private 
apartments,  built  in  the  sixteenth  century.  At 
some  distance  to  the  northeast,  fronting  on 
the  village  green,  are  a  fine  circular  dovecot 
and  an  arched  gateway,  with  some  parts  of 
the  old  outer  wall.  These  are  in  the  line  of 
the  boundary  walls  of  the  present  estate. 

The  castle  is  shown  to  visitors,  but  the  at- 
tendant is  not  always  to  be  found,  and  I  was 
unable  to  obtain  any  reliable  information  as 
to  the  times  at  which  admission  could  be 
gained. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


CASTLES  OF  THE  BORDER 

Fast  Castle 

The  insignificant  ruii;is  of  this  once  im- 
pregnable fortress,  the  prototype  of  Scott's 
Wolf's  Craig,  stand  on  a  bold  peninsulated 
crag  some  seventy  feet  above  the  German 
Ocean,  near  St.  Abb's  Head  in  Berwickshire. 
The  platform  on  which  the  castle  stands  is 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  a 
hundred  wide,  and  absolutely  inaccessible  cliffs 
descend  to  the  ocean  level  throughout  its  en- 
tire periphery,  except  on  the  west,  where  a 
deep  chasm  separates  it  from  the  mainland. 
This  was  twenty-four  feet  wide,  and  crossed 
by  a  drawbridge.  While  Fast  Castle  was  im- 
pregnable to  early  weapons,  it  became  un- 
tenable on  the  introduction  of  artillery,  as  the 
whole  platform  is  commanded  by  the  cliffs 
of  the  mainland,  which  tower  high  above  it. 
The  remains  of  the  castle  are  very  small,  as 
it  was  destroyed  by  lightning  in  1871. 

3S5 


336    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  castle  was  a  government  fortress  in 
1333,  but  changed  hands  often,  as  was  the 
case  with  Border  holds  in  general.  In  1410 
it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  English,  under 
command  of  Thomas  Holden,  and  was  a 
scourge  to  the  whole  surrounding  country  by 
reason  of  the  pillaging  excursions  which  they 
made.  Patrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  with  a  hun- 
dred men,  surprised  and  captured  the  place. 
In  1548,  being  again  in  English  possession, 
it  was  captured  by  the  following  stratagem: 
"  The  captain  of  Fast  Castle  had  commanded 
the  husbandmen  adjoining  to  bring  thither, 
at  a  certain  day,  great  store  of  victuals.  The 
young  men  thereabouts  having  that  occasion, 
assembled  thither  at  the  day  appointed,  who 
taking  their  burdens  from  their  horses,  and 
laying  them  on  their  shoulders,  were  allowed 
to  pass  the  bridge,  which  joined  two  high 
rocks,  into  the  castle;  where  laying  down  that 
which  they  brought,  they  suddenly,  by  a  sign 
given,  set  upon  the  keepers  of  the  gate,  slew 
them,  and  before  the  other  Englishmen  could 
be  assembled,  possessed  the  other  places, 
weapons,  and  artillery  of  the  castle,  and  then 
receiving  the  rest  of  the  company  into  the 
same,  through  the  same  great  and  open  gate, 
they  wholly  kept  and  enjoyed  the  castle  for 


Castles  of  the  Border  337 


their  countrymen."  Sir  Nicholas  Throgmor- 
ton,  writing  in  1567,  characterizes  it  as  a 
place  "  fitter  to  lodge  prisoners  than  folks 
at  liberty." 

In  1570,  Sir  Wilham  Drury,  Marshall  of 
Berwick,  after  taking  Home  Castle,  besieged 
Fast  Castle  with  two  thousand  men,  and  after 
capturing  it,  passed  on  to  besiege  Edinburgh, 
"  leaving  in  it  a  garrison  of  ten,  or,  accord- 
ing to  some,  fourteen  men  —  a  force  which 
was  considered  adequate  for  holding  it  out 
against  all  Scotland."  The  castle  belonged 
at  that  time  to  the  Homes,  but  passed  by  mar- 
riage in  1580  to  Logan  of  Restalrig. 

"  In  the  reign  of  James  VI,"  says  Scott, 
in  his  "  Provincial  Antiquities,"  "  Fast  Castle 
became  the  appropriate  stronghold  of  one  of 
the  darkest  characters  of  that  dark  age,  the 
celebrated  Logan  of  Restalrig.  There  is  a 
contract  existing  in  the  charter-chest  of  Lord 
Napier,  betwixt  Logan  and  a  very  opposite 
character,  the  celebrated  inventor  of  the  loga- 
rithms, the  terms  of  which  are  extremely  sin- 
gular. The  paper  is  dated  July,  1694,  and 
sets  forth,  *  Forasmuch  as  there  were  old 
reports  and  appearances  that  a  sum  of  money 
was  hid  within  John  Logan's  house  of  Fast 
Castle,  John  Napier  should  do  his  utmost 


338    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


diligence  to  search  and  seek  out,  and  by  all 
craft  and  ingine  to  find  out  the  same,  and, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  shall  either  find  out  the 
same,  or  make  it  sure  that  no  such  thing  has 
been  there.'  For  his  reward  he  was  to  have 
the  exact  third  of  what  was  found,  and  to  be 
safely  guarded  by  Logan  back  to  Edinburgh. 
And  in  case  he  should  find  nothing,  after  all 
trial  and  diligence  taken,  he  refers  the  satis- 
faction of  his  travel  and  pains  to  the  discre- 
tion of  Logan."  Logan  was  afterwards  a  par- 
ticipant in  the  mysterious  plot  known  as  the 
Gowrie  conspiracy.  It  was  proposed  to  ab- 
duct the  king  in  a  boat  from  the  garden  of 
Gowrie  House  and  carry  him  by  sea  to  Fast 
Castle,  which  has  a  water  gate.  In  this 
stronghold  he  was  to  be  held  at  the  disposal 
of  Elizabeth  or  the  plotters.  That  Logan 
was  implicated  in  this  affair  was  not  known 
until  he  had  been  buried  nine  years,  when  his 
correspondence  with  the  Earl  of  Gowrie  was 
discovered  in  the  hands  of  Sprott,  a  notary, 
who  had  stolen  it  from  John  Bour,  its  cus- 
todian. Sprott  was  executed,  and  the  bones 
of  Logan  were  disinterred  and  brought  into 
court  for  trial  on  the  charge  of  high  treason, 
of  which  they  were  duly  convicted.  As  at- 
tainder  of  treason  implied   confiscation  of 


Castles  of  the  Border  339 


property,  this  process  was  not  as  foolish  as 
it  might  appear. 

Home  Castle 

Home  or  Hume  Castle,  one  of  the  oldest 
fortresses  of  the  Border,  stands  on  the  summit 
of  a  hill  nine  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  near  Kelso,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Tweed.  The  walls  which  are  now  visible 
merely  serve  to  show  the  extent  of  the  an- 
cient structure,  having  been  built  on  the  old 
foundations  in  the  last  century.  The  plan 
proves,  however,  that  castles  of  enceinte  were 
built  in  the  Lowlands  as  well  as  the  west,  for 
the  castle  dates  from  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  Homes,  first  barons,  and  later  earls, 
played  a  very  prominent  part  in  Scottish  his- 
tory. They  were  in  all  times  powerful  in  the 
Border,  and  occupied  great  offices  in  court 
and  council,  enjoying  at  times  almost  regal 
power.  More  than  one  of  them  was  guilty 
of  treason,  and  one  was  executed  for  this 
crime.  The  fifth  Lord  Home  signed  the  or- 
der for  imprisoning  Mary  in  Lochleven  Cas- 
tle, and  when  she  escaped,  his  six  hundred 
troops  turned  the  fortune  of  the  battle  of 
Langside  against  her.  He  died  under  con- 
viction of  treason  for  this. 


340    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


The  Castle  of  Home  sustained  many  mem- 
orable sieges.  More  than  once  taken  in  civil 
war,  it  first  fell  to  a  foreign  foe  when  Som- 
erset captured  it  in  1547  after  a  stout  resist- 
ance by  Lady  Home.  Two  years  later  its 
owner  regained  it.  Again  in  1569  it  was  re- 
duced by  the  Earl  of  Sussex,  and  its  last 
capture  was  in  the  Civil  War. 

In  1650,  Cromwell,  after  he  had  captured 
Edinburgh,  sent  two  regiments  under  Colonel 
Fenwick  to  reduce  Home.  The  colonel  sent 
in  to  Cockburn,  the  governor  of  the  castle, 
a  peremptory  message  to  surrender.  He  got 
back  the  following  communications:  "Right 
Honourable,  I  have  received  a  trumpeter  of 
yours,  as  he  tells  me,  without  a  pass,  to  sur- 
render Hume  Castle  to  the  Lord  General 
Cromwell.  Please  you,  I  never  saw  your 
general.  As  for  Home  Castle,  it  stands  upon 
a  rock.  Given  at  Home  Castle,  this  day, 
before  7  o'clock.  So  resteth,  without  preju- 
dice to  my  native  country,  your  most  humble 
servant,  T.  Cockburn."  This  was  accom- 
panied by  the  following  doggerel  verse; 

"  I,  Willie  Wastle, 
Stand  firm  in  my  castle ; 
And  a'  the  dogs  o'  yonr  town 
Will  no  pull  Willie  Wastle  down.'' 


Castles  of  the  Border  341 


The  roar  of  cannon,  and  the  sight  of  Fen- 
wick's  troops  drawn  up  ready  to  assault  the 
breach,  changed  Cockburn's  spirit,  and  he  was 
very  glad  to  be  allowed  to  march  out,  leav- 
ing the  castle  to  the  ruin  from  which  it  never 
rose. 

Cessford  Castle 


Plan  of  Cessford  Castle 


342    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Cessford  Castle,  a  Border  fort  of  massive 
construction  and  great  strength,  stands  be- 
tween Kelso  and  Jedburgh  on  the  Kale 
Water.  It  formerly  belonged  to  the  Kers, 
ancestors  of  the  Duke  of  Roxburgh,  and  was 
built  in  the  fourteenth  century.  It  was  be- 
sieged by  Surrey  in  May,  1523,  and  he  wrote 
thus  to  Henry  VIII  after  its  surrender,  "  I 
was  very  glad  of  the  same  appointment 
(capitulation)  for  in  maner  I  sawe  not  howe 
it  wolde  have  been  won  if  they  within  wold 
have  contynued  their  deffending."  Jeffrey 
gives  this  account  of  the  siege: 

"  In  the  month  of  May,  1523,  the  castle  was 
besieged  by  Surrey,  in  the  absence  of  its 
owner,  with  a  numerous  army,  well  provided 
with  powerful  ordnance,  with  which  he  bat- 
tered the  donjon  with  little  effect.  While  the 
guns  were  playing  against  the  castle,  the 
Lord  Leonard,  Sir  Arthur  Darcy,  Sir  Will- 
iam Parr,  and  others,  by  means  of  scaling 
ladders,  entered  the  barnkin,  where  they  suf- 
fered severely  from  the  iron  guns  of  the  cas- 
tle and  stones  cast  down  upon  them.  They 
then  attempted  to  scale  the  donjon,  while  the 
archers  and  ordnance  kept  the  besieged  en- 
gaged; but  notwithstanding  all  the  efforts 
of  the  besiegers,  they  could  not  prevail  against 


Castles  of  the  Border  343 


the  castle,  which  was  gallantly  defended.  At 
last,  when  Surrey  was  despairing  of  success, 
the  warden  came  within  a  mile  of  the  castle, 
and  not  knowing  how  matters  stood  within 
the  castle,  but  fearing  the  worst,  offered  to 
give  up  the  place  on  his  men  being  allowed 
to  leave  with  their  bag  and  baggage,  to  which 
Surrey  was  but  too  glad  to  accede,  as  he  could 
not  have  taken  the  castle  by  force  of  arms. 
On  the  castle  being  delivered  up,  it  was  thrown 
down  by  the  ordnance,  and,  while  the  destruc- 
tion of  its  walls  was  going  on,  another  party 
went  on  to  Whitton  Fort  and  cast  it  down." 
In  1545  it  was  again  taken  by  Hertford.  It 
ceased  to  be  a  dwelling  house  in  1650,  but 
was  used  as  a  prison  for  Covenanters  in  1666. 


Smailholm  Tower 


Plans  of  Smailholm  Tower 


On  the  north  side  of  the  Tweed,  in  the  par- 
ish of  Smailholm,  not  far  from  Melrose, 


344    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


stands  the  Border  keep  known  as  Smailholm 
Tower.  This  is  on  the  farm  of  Sandyknowe, 
which  was  the  property  of  the  paternal  grand- 
father of  Sir  Walter  Scott,  and  one  of  the 
homes  of  the  poet's  boyhood.  Hence  this 
plain  keep,  of  no  importance  in  itself,  has 
thrown  over  it  the  glamour  of  the  poet's  de- 
scription in  "Marmion:"  — 

"  It  was  a  barren  scene,  and  wild, 
Where  naked  cliffs  were  rudely  piled ; 
But  ever  and  anon,  between, 
Lay  velvet  tufts  of  loveliest  green. 
And  well  the  lonely  infant  knew 
Recesses  where  the  wall-flower  grew, 
And  honeysuckle  loved  to  crawl 
Up  the  low  crag  and  ruined  wall. 
I  deemed  such  nooks  the  sweetest  shade 
The  sun  in  all  its  round  surveyed ; 
And  still  I  thought  that  shattered  tower 
The  mightiest  work  of  human  power, 
And  marvelled  as  the  aged  hind 
With  some  strange  tale  bewitched  my  mind, 
Of  forayers  who,  with  headlong  force, 
Down  from  that  strength  had  spurred  their  horse, 
Their  southern  rapine  to  renew, 
Far  in  the  distant  Cheviots  blue, 
And  home  returning  filled  the  hall 
With  revel,  wassel-rout,  and  brawl.*' 

The  tower  stands  on  a  rocky  knoll  which 
well  protects  all  sides  save  the  west,  where  is 


Castles  of  the  Border  345 


the  entrance  door,  and  remains  of  a  barmkin 
or  fore-court.  The  tower  is  absolutely  plain 
externally,  with  a  gabled  roof,  which  has  bat- 
tlements on  the  sides  and  not  on  the  ends, 
a  late  arrangement.  Internally  there  are  four 
stories,  two  of  which  are  vaulted. 

For  two  hundred  years  after  the  beginning 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  tower  belonged 
to  the  Prestons  of  Whytbank,  from  whom  it 
passed  to  Scott  of  Harden.  It  now  belongs 
to  Lord  Polwarth,  his  descendant.  Sir  Wal- 
ter Scott,  in  a  note  prefixed  to  "  The  Eve 
of  St.  John,"  says  that  he  wrote  that  poem 
about  Smailholm  Tower  and  its  vicinity. 

Darnick  Tower 

The  visitor  to  Abbotsford  by  coach  from 
Melrose,  a  very  common  way,  will  see  be- 
tween the  two  places,  at  a  turn  in  the  road, 
a  very  good  example  of  the  Border  peel  in 
Darnick  Tower.  This  is  a  four-story  struc- 
ture erected  in  1569,  to  which  has  been  added 
for  more  room  an  ell  of  later  date.  The  tower 
is  about  thirty  feet  by  twenty-two,  with  walls 
about  four  feet  thick.  On  the  south  front  is 
a  square  turret  which  carries  a  wheel  stair  to 

i  the  battlements,  and  is  then  continued  a  story 

I 


346    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


higher  than  the  main  tower  to  form  a  watch- 
tower.  The  entrance  door  is  in  the  base  of 
this  tower,  and  seems  to  have  been  well 
guarded  by  double  doors.  It  gives  into  the 
kitchen,  formerly  a  vaulted  apartment,  but 
now  with  a  square  ceiling.  Above  this  is  the 
hall,  occupying  the  whole  of  the  first  floor. 
On  the  floor  above  are  bedrooms,  and  in  the 
roof,  with  an  entrance  from  the  battlements, 
which  run  almost  around  the  roof,  is  an  ar- 
moury. The  battlements  are  carried  on  cor- 
bels, as  is  the  watch-tower.  Embrasures  and 
numerous  gargoyles  add  to  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  the  roof. 

Darnick  has  continuously  belonged  to  and 
been  inhabited  by  the  Heitons.  It  is  built  on 
the  site  of  an  older  tower,  which  was  des- 
troyed by  Hertford,  in  1545.  The  present 
building  was  erected  by  virtue  of  a  charter 
given  by  Mary  and  Darnley  in  1566. 

BranxJiolm  Castle 

Three  miles  from  Hawick,  on  a  bold  bank 
overhanging  the  river  Teviot,  still  stands 
Branxholm  Castle,  now  no  more  a  feudal 
fortress,  but  a  noble  mansion  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  with  few  relics  of  its  earlier  strength. 


Castles  of  the  Border  347 


The  lands  of  Branxholm  were  acquired  by 
the  Scotts  in  1420  by  exchange  for  their  own 
estate  in  Lanarkshire.  "  One-half  of  the 
barony  of  Branxholm  belonged  to  Sir  Thomas 
Inglis.  This  gentleman  was  a  lover  of  peace, 
ill  able  to  bear  the  excitements  and  conflicts 
and  perils  of  the  Border  warfare;  and,  hap- 
pening one  day  to  meet  Sir  William  Scott  of 
Buccleuch,  who  was  then  proprietor  of  the 
estate  of  Murdiestone  in  Lanarkshire,  he 
strongly  expressed  to  him  his  disgust  at  being 
obliged  to  sleep  every  night  in  boots  and  shirt 
of  mail,  and  to  hold  himself  in  constant  readi- 
ness for  action  with  English  freebooters,  and 
his  envy  of  the  quiet  and  security  and  con- 
tinual ease  which  the  lairds  of  Clydesdale  en- 
joyed at  a  distance  from  the  Border,  and 
behind  the  ramparts  of  the  Leadshill  moun- 
tains. Scott  loved  frolicking  and  feud  as 
much  as  Inglis  hated  them;  and  he  abruptly 
answered,  *  What  say  you  to  an  exchange  of 
estates?  I  like  that  dry  land  of  yours  much 
better  than  this  stretch  of  wet  clay.'  '  Are 
you  serious?  '  replied  Inglis.  *  If  you  be,  take 
the  dry  land  with  all  my  heart,  and  let  me 
have  the  clay.'  They  made  short  work  of 
the  bargain;  and  Scott  soon  found  himself 
laird  of  Branxholm,   and  significantly  re- 


348    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


marked  as  he  got  possession  of  it  that  the 
cattle  of  Cumberland  were  as  good  as  those 
of  Teviotdale.  He  promptly  gathered  around 
him  a  strong  body  of  hardy,  active,  resolute, 
unscrupulous,  well-mounted  retainers,  and 
rode  so  often  and  vigorously  at  their  head 
across  the  Border,  and  made  such  smart  re- 
prisals upon  the  English  for  any  occasional 
injury  they  did  him,  that  he  soon  and  per- 
manently made  the  balance  of  account  between 
Cumberland  and  Teviotdale  very  much  in  his 
own  favour;  and  his  successors,  for  several 
generations,  rivalled  his  energy  and  closely 
followed  his  example,  —  so  that  they  rendered 
all  the  country  round  them  resonant  with  the 
clang  of  arms,  and  rich  with  well-defended 
or  rapidly  augmented  flocks." 

In  1463,  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  his  son,  who 
had  by  now  acquired  the  whole  of  the  lands 
of  Branxholm,  surrendered  them  to  the  king 
and  received  them  back  as  a  barony,  to  be 
held  on  rent  of  a  red  rose.  The  castle  now 
became  the  chief  seat  of  the  Buccleuch  family, 
was  enlarged  and  strengthened,  and  became 
one  of  the  strong  posts  of  the  Border.  Sir 
Walter  thus  sings  its  pride :  — 

"  Nine-and-twenty  knights  of  fame 
Hung  their  shields  in  Branxholm  Hall; 


Castles  of  the  Border  349 


Nine-and-twenty  squires  of  name 

Brought  them  their  steeds  to  bower  from  stall; 

Nine-and-twenty  yeomen  tall 

Waited  duteous  on  them  all ; 

They  were  all  knights  of  mettle  true, 

Kinsmen  to  the  bold  Buccleuch. 

"  Ten  of  them  were  sheathed  in  steel, 
With  belted  sword,  and  spur  on  heel ; 
They  quitted  not  their  harness  bright 
Neither  by  day,  nor  yet  by  night ; 

They  lay  down  to  rest 

With  corselet  laced. 
Pillowed  on  buckler,  cold  and  hard ; 

They  carved  at  the  meal 

With  gloves  of  steel 
And  they  drank  the  red  wine  through  the  helmet 
barred. 

"  Ten  squires,  ten  yeomen,  mail-clad  men, 
Waited  the  beck  of  the  wardours  ten ; 
Thirty  steeds,  both  fleet  and  wight, 
Stood  saddled  in  stable  day  and  night, 
Barbed  with  frontlet  of  steel,  I  trow. 
And  with  Jed  wood-axe  at  saddle  bow ; 
A  hundred  more  fed  free  in  stall ; 
Such  was  the  custom  of  Branxholm  Hall." 

Branxholm  Hall  was  such  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh  of  the  English  that  it  was  burned  by  the 
Earl  of  Northumberland  in  1532,  and  in  1570 
a  force  under  the  Earl  of  Sussex  and  Lord 


350    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Hounsdon  was  sent  to  completely  destroy  it. 
When  they  arrived,  they  found  that  the  Scotts 
had  burnt  their  own  tower.  This  did  not 
satisfy  the  English  troops,  who  "  cawysed 
powder  to  be  sett,  and  so  blew  up  the  on 
halfe  from  the  uther."  Rebuilding  was  im- 
mediately undertaken  by  Scott,  and  finished 
by  his  wife  in  1576,  after  his  death.  These 
buildings  still  stand. 

Goldielands 

Goldielands,  a  Border  peel,  famed  in  Border 
balladry,  stands  above  the  Teviot,  a  mile  or 
so  above  Hawick.  It  is  a  typical  keep  of 
late  date,  and  offers  nothing  of  especial  in- 
terest to  the  visitor,  aside  from  its  associa- 
tions. It  was  owned  by  a  branch  of  the  Scotts 
of  Branxholm,  the  last  of  whom  was  hanged 
over  his  own  doorway  for  his  maraudings  and 
plunderings. 

Dryhope  Tower 

The  home  of  Mary  Scott,  the  "  Flower  of 
Yarrow,"  is  a  dismantled  and  ruinous  keep 
overlooking  St.  Mary's  Loch.  It  is  arranged 
much  as  all  other  simple  keeps  in  Scotland, 
but  is  in  extremely  dilapidated  condition.  It 


Castles  of  the  Border  351 


was  destroyed  in  1592  by  Scott  of  Goldie- 
lands,  because  the  owner  had  been  "  art  and 
part  in  the  late  treasonable  attempt  against 
the  king  at  Falkland."  The  chief  interest  of 
the  castle  lies  in  the  legends  and  ballads  of 
the  "  Flower  of  Yarrow,"  famous  for  her 
beauty,  and  the  heroine  of  a  tragic  corhbat 
when  seven  Scott  brothers  and  seven  Douglas 
brothers  fought  for  her  and  perished  to  the 
last  man.  She  was  eventually  married  to 
Scott  of  Harden,  as  famous  for  his  freeboot- 
ing  as  she  was  for  her  beauty,  and  in  this 
career  she  heartily  encouraged  him.  The  story 
is  that  when  the  larder  of  their  home  was 
empty,  the  laird  and  his  sons  got  nought  for 
dinner  but  a  pair  of  spurs  instead  of  a  roast; 
upon  the  uncovering  of  this  significant  but 
unsatisfying  dish,  they  were  accustomed  to 
quit  the  table  and  ride  across  the  Border,  soon 
driving  back  their  dinner  before  them. 


Newark  on  Yarrow 

Four  miles  from  Selkirk  stands  the  strong 
and  ancient  pile  of  Newark  Castle,  once  a 
royal  hunting  seat  in  Ettrick  Forest  and  later 
the  hold  of  the  Scotts  of  Buccleuch.  It  is  the 
scene  of  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel: " 


352    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


"  He  paused  where  Newark's  stately  tower 
Looks  out  from  Yarrow's  birchen  bower: 
The  Minstrel  gazed  with  wishful  eye  — 
No  humbler  resting-place  was  nigh. 
With  hesitating  step,  at  last, 
The  embattled  portal-arch  he  passed, 
Whose  ponderous  gate  and  massy  bar 
Had  oft  rolled  back  the  tide  of  war, 
But  never  closed  the  iron  door. 
Against  the  desolate  and  poor. 
The  Duchess  marked  his  weary  pace, 
His  timid  mien,  and  reverend  face, 
And  bade  the  page  the  menials  tell 
That  they  should  tend  the  old  man  well : 
For  she  had  known  adversity. 
Though  born  in  such  a  high  degree ; 
In  pride  of  power,  in  beauty's  bloom, 
Had  wept  o'er  Monmouth's  bloody  tomb ! " 

The  keep  is  quite  large,  sixty-five  feet  by 
forty,  with  walls  ten  feet  thick,  and  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  barmkin  or  courtyard.  It  was 
built  in  the  fifteenth  century.  In  1548  it  was 
captured  by  the  English.  In  1645  a  hundred 
prisoners  from  the  battlefield  of  Philiphaugh 
were  executed  in  the  courtyard.  In  1650  it 
was  occupied  by  Cromwell.  Anna,  Duchess 
of  Monmouth  and  Buccleuch,  resided  here 
after  the  execution  of  her  husband,  the  Duke 
of  Monmouth,  under  James  VII,  and  is  the 
duchess  of  Scott's  poem. 


Castles  of  the  Border  353 


Hermitage  Castle 


Plan  of  Hermitage  Castle 


Hermitage  Castle  in  Liddesdale,  four  miles 
from  Riccarton  Junction,  was  one  of  the 
largest  and  strongest  on  the  Border,  and  re- 
mains in  an  exceptionally  good  state  of  repair. 
It  stands  on  the  Hermitage  Water,  between 
two  other  small  streams,  which  gave  plenty 
of  water  for  filling  the  ditches.  It  was  built 
in  the  thirteenth  century  by  Walter  Comyn, 
Earl  of  Menteith,  and  its  erection  was  one  of 


I 

354    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


the  causes  given  by  Henry  III,  in  1243,  for 
the  assembling  of  an  army  to  invade  Scotland. 
He  claimed  that  the  fortress  was  too  near  the 
Liddel  Water,  the  boundary  between  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  and  that  it  was  a  standing 
menace  to  the  English  frontier.  The  castle 
was  intended  as  a  royal  possession,  but  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  lords  of  the  district. 
From  the  family  of  de  Soulis,  who  acquired 
it  from  Comyn,  it  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown, 
and  was  granted  by  David  II  to  William  of 
Douglas,  Knight  of  Liddesdale.  From  him 
it  passed  to  the  Earls  of  Angus,  and  by  them 
was  enlarged  about  the  beginning  of  the  fif- 
teenth century.  In  1492,  Archibald,  sixth 
Earl  of  Angus,  exchanged  Hermitage  Castle 
and  Liddesdale  for  Both  well  Castle  on  the 
Clyde,  which  had  belonged  to  Hepburn,  Earl 
of  Bothwell.  While  in  the  possession  of  the 
Douglases,  the  valiant  Sir  Alexander  Ram- 
say of  Dalhousie  was  confined  in  its  dungeon 
without  food  or  water;  and  although  he  man- 
aged to  subsist  for  a  time  on  the  grains  of 
corn  which  fell  through  the  floor  from  the 
granary  above,  he  eventually  starved  to  death 
in  his  prison. 

The  most  famous  episode  in  the  history  of 
Hermitage  is  the  visit  made  by  Queen  Mary 


Castles  of  the  Border  355 


to  the  Earl  of  Bothwell.  He  had  been  se- 
verely wounded  in  an  attempt  to  capture  a 
desperate  freebooter  called  ElUott  of  the 
Parke,  and  lay  seriously  ill  in  the  castle. 
When  the  news  was  conveyed  to  Mary,  she 
made  the  journey  to  Hermitage  and  back  to 
Jedburgh,  forty-eight  miles  over  roadless 
wastes  and  barren  hills,  in  drenching  rain,  in 
a  single  day,  nearly  paying  with  her  life  for 
her  foolhardiness.  When  the  Hepburn  titles 
and  lands  were  forfeited  by  Francis  Stuart, 
the  castle  passed  to  the  Buccleuchs,  who  still 
hold  it. 

The  earliest  portion  of  the  castle  is  the  wall 
surrounding  the  small  central  court.  Only 
one  story  of  this  remains,  but  it  is  evident  that 
this  keep  originally  had  wooden  floors.  What 
the  plan  of  this  oldest  castle  was  cannot  now 
be  told,  as  all  other  traces  of  it  have  disap- 
peared. When  the  castle  was  enlarged,  prob- 
ably by  William  Douglas,  Knight  of  Liddes- 
dale,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, a  keep  on  the  prevalent  rectangular  plan 
was  built,  with  the  unusual  result  of  produc- 
ing a  double  tower  with  a  central  courtyard. 

The  final  change  took  place  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  This  was  the  time  when  keeps  were 
enlarged  into  courtyard  castles,  but  Hermit- 


356    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


age  was  extended  by  building  on  a  tower  at 
each  angle.  Thus  the  extra  accommodation 
was  provided  while  the  towers  furnished  ad- 
ditional security  by  flanking  all  sides  of  the 
keep.  The  castle  was  now  extremely  strong, 
both  in  situation  and  artificial  defences.  It 
was  surrounded  by  ditches  and  a  mound,  and 
access  was  gained  only  by  very  small  gate- 
ways, the  most  important  of  which  was  de- 
fended by  a  portcullis. 

The  two  eastern  and  the  two  western  tow- 
ers were  mutually  united  many  feet  above  the 
ground  by  pointed  arches.  These  resemble 
the  arched  gateway  at  Dirleton,  but  were  not 
intended  for  that  purpose,  as  there  is  no  door- 
way in  either  arch.  The  probable  reason  for 
this  construction  is  that  the  castle  was  de- 
fended at  the  top  by  wooden  hoardings  out- 
side the  ramparts,  and  these  arches  enabled 
them  to  be  carried  entirely  around  the  castle, 
while  the  spaces  between  the  towers  would 
otherwise  have  been  too  narrow  to  allow  them 
to  be  conveniently  carried  into  the  recess. 
The  holes  for  the  beams  are  still  to  be  seen, 
and  also  doorways  from  which  the  hoardings 
could  be  reached.  There  is  also  provision  for 
two  or  three  levels  of  wooden  defensive  plat- 
forms in  the  recesses  under  the  great  arches. 


Castles  of  the  Border  357 


with  more  doorways.  The  castle  was  altered 
for  artillery  by  Lord  Maxwell  in  1540,  when 
a  number  of  windows  and  doorways  were  built 
up  to  form  embrasures  for  guns. 

Neidpath  Castle 

Neidpath  Castle,  near  Peebles,  is  more  fa- 
miliar because  of  the  facility  with  which  it 
can  be  photographed,  and  its  picturesqueness 
of  situation,  than  for  its  history.  It  stands 
on  a  high  bank,  overlooking  a  bend  in  the 
Tweed,  and  is  a  most  conspicuous  object  in 
the  landscape.  It  is  a  keep  built  on  the 
L-plan,  and  probably  dates  back  to  the  four- 
teenth century,  although  the  time  of  its  erec- 
tion is  difficult  to  determine.  It  is  built  with 
a  very  peculiar  hard  mortar,  which  has  caused 
the  assertion  that  it  is  of  Norman  construc- 
tion, like  the  Tower  of  London.  So  hard  is 
the  cement,  that  a  staircase  was  dug  out  of 
the  thickness  of  the  wall  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  without  injuring  the  structure. 

The  walls  of  the  tower  are  about  eleven  feet 
thick.  The  original  door  was  on  the  basement 
floor,  on  the  side  facing  the  river.  Access  was 
had  to  the  upper  floors  by  a  spiral  stair  in  the 
wall.    The  tower  was  divided  vertically  into 


358    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


three  vaults,  each  of  the  lower  two  being  sub- 
divided by  a  wooden  floor.  It  thus  contained 
five  floors.  The  corners  are  all  rounded,  and 
the  parapets  had  no  projecting  bartizans. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  altered 
somewhat  by  placing  the  principal  entrance 
on  the  eastern  front  and  adding  a  forecourt, 
in  which  were  a  number  of  domestic  buildings. 

The  castle  was  for  centuries  the  property 
of  the  Hays  of  Tester.  In  1686  it  was  sold 
to  the  Duke  of  Queensberry,  and  given  by 
him  to  his  son,  the  first  Earl  of  March.  The 
new  proprietors  beautified  the  estate  by  lay- 
ing out  gardens  and  planting  trees  until  it 
became  the  most  beautiful  estate  in  Peebles- 
shire. The  third  earl,  who  became  Duke  of 
Queensberry,  despoiled  the  estate  by  cutting 
all  the  ornamental  trees,  and  allowed  the  gar- 
dens to  become  a  grassy  sward.  Wordsworth 
condemned  this  act  in  one  of  his  sonnets, 
"  Composed  at    Castle:  " 

"  Degenerate  Douglas  !  Oh,  the  unworthy  lord ! 
Whom  mere  despite  of  heart  could  so  far  please, 
And  love  of  havoc  (for  with  such  disease 
Fame  taxes  him),  that  he  could  send  forth  word 
To  level  with  the  dust  a  noble  horde, 
A  brotherhood  of  venerable  trees, 
Leaving  an  ancient  dome,  and  towers  like  these 


Castles  of  the  Border  359 


Beggared  and  outraged !  Many  hearts  deplored 
The  fate  of  those  old  trees ;  and  oft  with  pain 
The  traveller,  at  this  day,  will  stop  and  gaze 
On  wrongs  which  Nature  scarcely  seems  to  heed : 
For  sheltered  places,  bosoms,  nooks,  and  bays. 
And  the  pure  mountains,  and  the  gentle  Tweed, 
And  the  green  silent  pastures,  yet  remain.'^ 


Of  history,  Neidpath  Castle  has  little.  Al- 
most its  only  historical  event  was  its  capture 
by  Cromwell  after  a  short  defence.  It  seems 
to  have  been  visited  at  various  times  by  sev- 
eral Scotch  monarchs. 

A  touching  legend  of  the  castle  is  told  by 
Scott  as  follows:  —  "  There  is  a  tradition  that 
when  Neidpath  Castle  was  inhabited  by  the 
Earls  of  March,  a  mutual  passion  subsisted 
between  a  daughter  of  that  noble  family  and 
a  son  of  the  Laird  of  Tushielaw,  in  Ettrick 
Forest.  As  the  alliance  was  thought  unsuit- 
able by  her  parents,  the  young  man  went 
abroad.  During  his  absence  the  lady  fell  into 
a  consumption;  and  at  length,  as  the  only 
means  of  saving  her  hfe,  her  father  consented 
that  her  lover  should  be  recalled.  On  the  day 
he  was  expected  to  pass  through  Peebles  on 
the  road  to  Tushielaw,  the  young  lady,  though 
much  exhausted,  caused  herself  to  be  carried 
to  the  balcony  of  a  house  in  Peebles  belonging 


360    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland. 


to  her  family,  that  she  might  see  him  as  he 
rode  past.  Her  anxiety  and  eagerness  gave 
such  force  to  her  organs  that  she  is  said  to 
have  distinguished  his  horse's  footsteps  at  an 
incredible  distance.  But  Tushielaw,  unpre- 
pared for  the  change  in  her  appearance,  and 
not  expecting  to  see  her  in  that  place,  rode  on 
without  recognizing  her  or  even  slackening 
his  pace.  The  lady  was  unable  to  support 
the  shock,  and,  after  a  short  struggle,  died  in 
the  arms  of  her  attendants.'^  This  account  is 
quoted  from  the  introduction  to  Scott's  poem, 
"  The  Maid  of  Neidpath,"  of  which  the  last 
verse  is  as  follows:  — 

<^  He  came  —  he  pass'd  —  a  heedless  gaze, 

As  o'er  some  stranger  glancing ; 
Her  welcome,  spoke  in  faltering  phrase, 

Lost  in  his  courser's  prancing  — 
The  castle  arch,  whose  hollow  tone 

Returns  each  whisper  spoken. 
Could  scarcely  catch  the  feeble  moan 

Which  told  her  heart  was  broken." 


CHAPTER  XV 


SOUTHWESTERN  SCOTLAND 

Johnny  Armstrong's  Tower 

In  the  valley  of  the  Esk,  between  Canonbie 
'and  Langholm,  stands  the  most  famous  of 
all  the  Border  keeps,  Hollows  or  Gilnockie 
Tower.  It  is  exactly  like  many  other  peels 
internally  and  externally,  except  that  it  has 
a  beacon  lantern  on  the  top  of  the  gable. 
These  were  frequent  along  the  Border,  but 
existing  examples  are  very  rare.  The  law 
of  raising  the  countryside  by  fire  was  well 
understood,  and  continually  practised.  In 
1570  the  Earl  of  Sussex  promulgated  an  or- 
der to  the  English  wardens  of  the  Border  as 
follows: — "  Everie  man  that  hath  a  castle  or 
a  tower  of  stone  shall  upon  everie  fray  raysed 
in  thie  night,  give  warning  to  the  countrie  by 
fire  in  the  topps  of  the  castle  or  towre  in  such 
sort  as  he  shall  be  directed  from  his  warning 
castle." 

The  Armstrongs  first  appeared  in  this  part 

361 


362    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  Scotland  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  the  redoubtable  Johnny  built  himself 
this  tower  against  the  laws,  which  stringently 
forbade  the  erection  of  any  strength  in  the 
debatable  lands  without  license  from  the 
Crown.  They  soon  became  one  of  the  most 
powerful  clans  on  the  Scottish  side,  and  built 
themselves  numerous  keeps,  the  ruins  of  which 
are  scattered  all  through  Liddesdale. 

"  The  habitual  depredations  of  this  Border 
race  had  rendered  them  so  active  and  daring, 
and  at  the  same  time  so  cautious  and  circum- 
spect, that  they  seldom  failed  either  in  their 
attacks  or  in  securing  their  prey.  Even  when 
assailed  by  superior  numbers,  they  baffled 
every  assault  by  abandoning  their  dwellings, 
and  retiring  with  their  families  into  thick 
woods  and  deep  morasses,  accessible  by  paths 
only  known  to  themselves.  One  of  their  most 
noted  places  of  refuge  was  the  Terras-moss, 
a  frightful  and  desolate  marsh,  so  deep  that 
two  spears  tied  together  could  not  reach  the 
bottom." 

Several  of  the  Scottish  monarchs  tried  in 
vain  to  end  their  raids,  but  it  remained  for 
James  V,  after  escaping  from  the  power  of 
the  Earls  of  Angus,  to  break  the  power  of 
the  Border  raiders.    Knowing  that  to  curb 


Southwestern  Scotland  363 


the  followers,  he  must  overawe  the  chief- 
tains, he  forfeited  or  imprisoned  the  whole 
of  them,  except  Cockburn  of  Henderland 
and  Scott  of  Tushielaw,  commonly  called  the 
"  King  of  the  Border,"  who  were  publicly  exe- 
cuted. 

In  June,  1529,  the  king  at  the  head  of  his 
army  marched  from  Edinburgh  through  Et- 
trick  Forest,  and  into  the  southern  border. 
During  this  expedition,  Johnny  Armstrong 
presented  himself  to  the  king,  with  thirty-six 
followers,  in  the  hope  of  being  pardoned. 
Pitscottie  says  that  he  "  was  the  most  re- 
doubted chieftain  that  had  been  for  a  long 
time  on  the  borders  either  of  Scotland  or 
England.  He  ever  rode  with  twenty-four 
able  gentlemen,  well-horsed ;  yet  he  never  mo- 
lested any  Scottish  man."  It  was  said  that 
from  the  Border  to  Newcastle,  every  English- 
man, of  whatever  state,  paid  him  tribute. 

He  "  came  before  the  king  with  his  fore- 
said number  (thirty-six),  richly  apparelled, 
trusting  that,  in  respect  of  this  free  offer  of 
his  person,  he  should  obtain  the  king's  favour. 
But  the  king,  seeing  him  and  his  men  so  gor- 
geous in  their  apparel,  frowardly  turned  him- 
self about  and  bade  them  take  the  tyrant  out 
of  his  sight,  saying,  *  What  wants  that  knave 


364     Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


that  a  king  should  have? '  John  Armstrong 
made  great  offers  to  the  king,  that  he  should 
sustain  himself  with  forty  gentlemen  ever 
ready  at  his  service,  on  their  own  cost,  with- 
out wronging  any  Scottish  man.  Secondly, 
that  there  was  not  a  subject  in  England,  duke, 
earl,  or  baron,  but,  within  a  certain  day,  he 
should  bring  him  to  his  majesty,  either  quick 
or  dead.  At  length  he,  seeing  no  hope  of 
favom*,  said  very  proudly,  '  It  is  folly  to  seek 
grace  at  a  graceless  face:  but,  had  I  known 
this,  I  should  have  lived  on  the  borders  in 
despite  of  King  Heniy  and  you  both;  for  I 
know  that  King  Harry  would  down-weigh 
my  best  horse  with  gold  to  know  that  I  were 
condemned  to  die  this  day.'  " 

In  spite  of  his  entreaties,  he  and  all  his  fol- 
lowers were  hanged  on  trees  and  buried  at 
Ceanlarig  chapel.  The  rest  of  the  family  con- 
tinued in  their  high-handed  life,  and  were 
never  suppressed  until  James  VI  made  a  cam- 
paign against  them  in  which  their  leaders  were 
brought  to  the  scaffold,  their  houses  razed, 
and  their  estates  conferred  on  strangers,  so 
thoroughly  that  the  very  name  of  Armstrong 
was  exterminated  from  the  whole  district 
where  they  had  held  sway. 


Southwestern  Scotland  365 


Lochmaben  Castle 

Lochmaben,  the  hereditary  home  of  the 
Bruces,  which,  with  its  outworks,  covered  six- 
teen acres,  was  the  most  powerful  castle  on 
the  Border,  and  was,  before  the  invention  of 
gunpowder,  all  but  impregnable.  By  its  loca- 
tion it  was  the  key  to  southwestern  Scotland, 
and  the  scene  of  many  conflicts.  It  stands  on 
a  flat  peninsula  which  juts  into  Loch  Maben. 
Across  the  isthmus  are  the  remains  of  a  deep 
ditch,  through  which  flowed  the  waters  of  the 
loch,  converting  the  site  into  an  island. 
Within  this  ditch  are  a  second,  third  and 
fourth,  all  of  which  except  the  last  were 
crossed  by  movable  drawbridges.  The  fourth 
ditch,  about  twenty  feet  wide,  flowed  under 
the  two  side  walls  of  a  forecourt  through 
arched  openings  which  were  presumably  de- 
fended by  bars  or  gates.  Thus  access  to  the 
castle  was  had  only  by  boats,  and  the  main 
gate,  opening  on  the  ditch,  was  commanded 
by  all  the  four  walls  of  the  court.  Within 
the  courtyard  of  the  castle  proper  there  are 
a  few  remains  of  buildings,  probably  of  late 
date,  but  so  ruinous  that  nothing  can  certainly 
be  said  about  them  The  castle  itself  is  wholly 
in  ruins,  having  long  been  used  as  a  quarry. 


366    Oastles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


It  was  a  square  courtyard  of  typical  thir- 
teenth-century plan,  and  originally  had  walls 
which  were  very  thick  and  high. 

The  present  building  is  not  the  original 
castle  of  the  Bruces,  which  stood  on  an  emi- 
nence called  the  Castlehill  on  the  other  side 
of  the  loch. 

Robert  de  Brus  was  the  son  of  a  noble 
knight  of  Normandy  who  came  into  England 
with  William  the  Conqueror,  and  was  given 
the  manor  of  SkeJton.  Having  become  a 
friend  of  David  I  before  that  king  came  to 
the  throne,  he  was  granted  by  him  in  1124 
the  lordship  of  Annandale,  with  right  to 
enjoy  his  castle  there,  with  all  the  customs 
appertaining  to  it.  A  charter  of  William  the 
Lion  of  about  1170,  dated  at  Lochmaben, 
confirms  to  the  third  Lord  of  Annandale  all 
the  property  possessed  by  his  father.  The 
Bruce  who  was  competitor  for  the  throne  and 
grandfather  of  Robert  I  died  at  Lochmaben 
in  1295.  He  was  the  builder  of  the  present 
castle.  Edward  I  took  possession  of  the 
castle  in  July,  1298,  strengthened  and  pro- 
visioned it,  and  placed  a  garrison  there. 
When  Bruce  left  London  in  1304,  he  directed 
his  course  toward  Lochmaben.  Near  the  west 
marches  he  met  a  foot  traveller,  whom  he 


Southwestern  Scotland  367 


questioned  and  found  to  be  a  bearer  of  mes- 
sages from  Comyn  to  the  English  king.  He 
seized  and  read  the  letters,  which  urged  his 
imprisonment  or  death.  After  beheading  the 
messenger,  he  went  on  to  Lochmaben,  where 
he  found  shelter.  Later  he  proceeded  to 
Dumfries  to  see  Comyn,  and  the  result  was 
the  death  of  the  latter. 

When  Bruce  obtained  the  throne  he  gave 
the  castle  of  Lochmaben  to  Randolph,  Earl 
of  Moray.  The  English  conferred  it  on  the 
Bohuns,  Earls  of  Hereford,  and  when  Ran- 
dolph returned  from  captivity  in  France  in 
1335,  he  "  found  William  Bohun  in  his  own 
castle  of  Lochmaben,  and  bearing  sway  over 
all  his  own  lands  of  Annandale."  In  1342 
the  Scots  made  a  vigorous  attempt  to  capture 
the  castle  from  the  garrison  placed  there  by 
Edward  III,  but  their  efforts  were  unsuccess- 
ful. The  next  year  David  II  imprudently  led 
his  forces  into  England,  and  was  severely 
harassed  by  the  garrison  of  the  castle.  In 
1346  he  besieged  and  took  it,  and  executed 
the  governor.  After  the  Battle  of  the  Stand- 
ard, the  castle  again  opened  its  gates  to  an 
English  garrison,  who  held  it  for  years, 
though  continually  at  war  with  the  surround- 
ing population.    The  garrison's  sallies  and 


368    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland, 


forages  led  to  frequent  reprisals  by  raids  into 
England,  particularly  one  into  Westmoreland 
in  1380,  when  the  fair  of  Penrith  was  plun- 
dered with  great  booty.  In  1384  the  Earl 
of  Douglas  and  Archibald  Douglas,  Lord  of 
Galloway,  raised  a  formidable  force  to  take 
vengeance  on  the  garrison,  who  had  wasted 
their  lands,  and,  capturing  it,  drove  the  Eng- 
lish out  of  Annandale. 

In  1409  the  Earl  of  March  resigned  the 
castle  to  the  Regent  Albany,  who  gave  it, 
with  the  lordship  of  Annandale,  to  the  Earl 
of  Douglas.  The  Douglases  defied  the  king's 
authority  in  1450,  and  James  II  besieged  and 
took  Lochmaben,  which  was  confiscated  five 
years  later,  at  the  attainder  of  the  Earl  of 
Douglas.  Thereafter,  until  the  Union,  it  re- 
mained a  Crown  possession. 

James  IV  built  a  great  hall  in  the  castle, 
and  visited  it  during  a  royal  progress.  In 
1511  he  appointed  Lauder  of  the  Bass  gov- 
ernor for  seven  years.  In  the  minority  of 
James  V,  Robert,  Lord  Maxwell,  was  ap- 
pointed governor  for  nineteen  years.  Queen 
Mary  visited  it  in  1565,  when  pursuing  rebels 
in  Dumfriesshire.  In  1588,  James  VI  be- 
sieged the  castle  and  took  it  from  Lord  Max- 


Southwestern  Scotland  369 


well,  and  thereafter  the  governorship  was  con- 
ferred on  the  Earl  of  Annandale. 

The  governor  of  the  castle  had  a  salary  of 
three  hundred  pounds  Scots,  and  the  right  of 
fishing  in  the  lochs  with  boats  and  nets.  For 
the  support  of  the  garrison,  he  had  from 
every  parish  of  Annandale,  the  fattest  cow 
that  could  be  produced,  thirty-nine  meadow 
geese,  and  "  Fasten's  e'en  hens."  The  priv- 
ileges were  claimed  long  after  the  castle  was 
dismantled,  and  anger  for  these  exactions  had 
much  to  do  with  the  stripping  of  the  castle 
of  all  its  cut  stone  by  the  people  of  the  vicin- 
ity. 

Torthorwald  Castle 

Torthorwald  Castle,  the  wreck  of  a  massive 
keep  of  the  fourteenth  century,  stands  four 
miles  east  of  Dumfries,  on  a  ridge  between 
Nithsdale  and  Annandale.  It  stands  on  a 
mound  surrounded  by  ancient  earthworks, 
probably  the  defences  of  a  primitive  fortifi- 
cation of  an  era  before  castles  were  built  of 
stone.  The  tower,  one  end  of  which  has  fallen 
out,  much  resembles  Dundonald  Castle  on  a 
smaller  scale.  The  castle  belonged  to  the 
Carlyles,  long  inhabitants  of  this  district. 


370    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Thomas  Carlyle  was  of  this  stock,  and  says, 
"  What  illustrious  genealogies  we  have ;  a 
whole  regiment  of  Thomas  Carlyles,  wide 
possessions,  all  over  Annandale,  Cumberland, 
Durham,  gone  all  now  into  the  uttermost 
wreck,  —  absorbed  into  Douglasdom,  Drum- 
lanrigdom,  and  the  devil  knows  what." 

Caerlaverock  Castle 

Seven  miles  south  of  Dumfries,  where  the 
river  Nith  flows  into  the  Solway  Firth,  stands 
the  magnificent  and  ancient  Castle  of  Caer- 
laverock. It  occupies  a  situation  which  must 
have  been  very  strong,  being  placed  at  the 
edge  of  an  extensive  marsh,  which  surrounds 
the  castle  on  all  sides  except  the  north.  About 
the  base  of  the  castle  walls  runs  a  wide  and 
deep  moat  which  is  still  full  of  water.  Out- 
side of  this  is  a  great  earthen  mound  seventy 
feet  wide.  The  approach  to  the  castle  is  from 
the  north,  where  it  is  joined  by  a  drawbridge 
to  firm  ground. 

The  castle  as  it  stands  to-day  shows  the 
work  of  several  generations  of  builders.  The 
triangular  walls  of  enceinte  belong  to  a  very 
early  period,  and  were  probably  standing 
when  Edward  I  besieged  the  castle  in  1300. 


g 


Southwestern  Scotland  371 


The  castle  at  this  period  was  like  all  the  early 
castles,  a  simple  enceinte,  probably  provided 
with  towers  similar  to  those  now  standing. 
The  description  written  at  this  time  by  Wal- 
ter of  Exeter  would  serve  fairly  well  to-day. 
The  castle  was  finally  taken  and  the  towers 
demolished.  It  was  soon  rebuilt,  and  the 
front  erected  at  this  time,  identified  by  the 
shape  of  an  Edwardian  splayed  loophole,  is 
about  ten  feet  behind  the  present  front.  The 
round  towers  were  rebuilt  at  a  later  period 
on  the  stumps  of  those  destroyed  by  Edward, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  round  towers  at  the 
southern  corners  were  erected. 

The  buildings  of  the  courtyard  were  built 
at  two  or  three  different  times,  first  those  on 
the  west,  and  last  of  all,  about  1620,  the  fine 
Renaissance  structures  on  the  east  and  south 
sides. 

The  entrance  to  the  castle  is  admirably  de- 
fended. The  entrance  passage  passes  between 
the  two  great  towers,  with  a  guard  room  on 
each  side,  and  is  considerably  contracted  be- 
fore its  opening  into  the  courtyard.  At  the 
outer  end  was  a  portcullis,  worked  by  very 
elaborate  machinery  in  a  room  overhead.  The 
twin  front  towers  are  twenty-six  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  provided  with  gun-holes.    As  these 


372    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


were  built  with  the  towers,  their  date  is  thus 
fixed  as  not  earlier  than  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. They  contain  three  stories,  the  lower 
vaulted,  and  the  upper  one  domed  at  the 
top.  They  are  finished  with  corbelled  para- 
pets. 

The  west  range  was  probably  built  in  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  orig- 
inal wall  of  enceinte  was  raised  to  give  suf- 
ficient height  to  the  rooms  within,  and  the 
masonry  is  much  inferior  to  the  original  stone- 
work. One  external  window  only  was  made 
to  light  these  rooms.  In  this  building  there 
were  a  hall  and  retiring  room  on  the  ground 
floor,  and  the  library  and  a  smaller  apartment 
on  the  floor  above.  Later  a  circular  stairway 
was  built  between  this  block  and  the  entrance 
doorway,  and  the  high  archway  inside  the 
entrance  was  erected.  The  last  building  at 
Caerlaverock  was  the  fine  Renaissance  range 
on  the  east  and  south  sides.  This  still  stands 
in  its  full  height,  three  stories,  on  the  east, 
and  is  highly  ornamented.  The  windows  have 
shafts  at  the  sides,  with  Ionic  caps,  and  the 
pediments  are  filled  with  sculpture  portraying 
classic  myths  and  heraldic  emblems.  The 
rooms  are  lighted  by  windows  on  both  sides, 
as  the  necessity  for  serious  defence  had  passed 


Southwestern  Scotland  373 


away,  and  so  it  was  deemed  safe  to  cut  up 
the  curtain  wall  to  any  desired  extent.  This 
side  of  the  court  contains  service  rooms  on 
the  ground  floor  and  chambers  above.  The 
fireplaces  are  richly  carved.  On  the  south 
side  was  the  banqueting  hall,  a  most  mag- 
nificent apartment,  now  entirely  ruined,  and 
with  its  walls  fallen  in  many  places.  The 
doorway  by  which  it  was  entered  is  a  splendid 
and  finely  decorated  arch.  The  chapel  is  said 
to  have  been  over  the  hall. 

The  Romans  possessed  a  station  here,  and 
the  remains  of  one  of  their  camps  may  be 
seen  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  castle.  The 
barony  of  Caerlaverock  belonged  to  the  fam- 
ily of  Maxwell  as  early  as  the  time  of  Mal- 
colm Canmore.  Herbert,  the  eleventh  baron 
of  the  line,  fell  under  the  banner  of  Bruce 
at  Bannockburn.  In  his  time  the  castle  was 
besieged  and  taken  by  Edward  I  in  person, 
after  a  protracted  siege.  This  was  prosecuted 
with  all  the  knowledge  of  the  period,  but  so 
inadequate  were  the  means  of  attack  as  com- 
pared with  the  defensive  powers  of  the  mas- 
sive walls,  that  it  was  discovered,  on  the  sur- 
render, that  the  garrison  had  consisted  of  only 
sixty  men.  Edward  demolished  the  towers, 
but  seems  to  have  put  the  castle  into  a  state 


374    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


of  defence  again,  for  it  was  held  against  the 
Scots,  and  being  later  taken  by  them,  was 
again  besieged  and  captured. 

In  1355,  Roger  Kirkpatrick  of  Closeburn, 
faithful  to  the  Scottish  Crown,  captured  this 
castle  and  Dalswinton  from  the  English,  and 
by  his  firm  loyalty  kept  the  whole  of  Niths- 
dale  for  Scotland.  Two  years  later  he  was 
atrociously  murdered  in  his  own  castle  by 
Sir  James  Lindsay,  because  Kirkpatrick  had 
won  the  lady  whom  Lindsay  desired  for  his 
wife.  The  murderer  was  executed  for  his 
crime  by  order  of  David  II.  The  castle 
was  given  back  to  the  Maxwells,  who  have 
been  its  owners  through  all  of  recorded  his- 
tory. 

In  1425  Murdoch,  Duke  of  Albany,  con- 
victed of  high  treason,  was  brought  here  and 
confined  in  Murdoch's  Tower,  until  the  time 
came  for  him  to  be  taken  back  to  Stirling, 
where  he  died  on  the  Heading  Hill.  Lord 
Maxwell  had  been  arrested  with  him,  but  was 
liberated,  to  be  later  one  of  the  conservators 
of  the  truce  concluded  with  England  in  1438. 
Robert,  the  next  Lord  Maxwell,  was  slain 
near  Bannockburn  with  James  III  in  1488. 
Another  Maxwell,  Robert,  "  made  a  road  into 
England,  and  spoiled  all  Cumberland,"  in 


Southwestern  Scotland  375 


1526.  With  his  two  brothers,  he  was  made  a 
prisoner  at  the  rout  of  Solway  Moss,  in  No- 
vember, 1542.  He  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Tower  of  London,  and  ransomed  a  year  later 
for  one  thousand  merks.  King  James  was 
at  this  time  residing  in  Caerlaverock,  and  he 
was  so  mortified  at  the  defeat  of  the  Scots, 
that  he  retired  to  Falkland  Palace  and  died 
of  grief  within  a  month.  Henry  VIII  was 
desirous  at  this  time  of  obtaining  the  mastery 
of  the  castles  of  Caerlaverock,  Lochmaben, 
and  Langholm,  and  ordered  Lord  Wharton, 
his  envoy,  to  examine  them,  "  and  knowe  their 
strength  and  scituations ;  "  if  he  found  them 
tenable,  he  was  "  ernestly  to  travaile  with 
Robert  Maxwell  for  the  delyverie  of  the  same 
into  his  majestie's  hands,  if  with  money  and 
reward,  or  other  large  offers,  the  same  may 
be  obtayned." 

Sir  John  Maxwell,  son  of  Robert,  known  as 
Lord  Herries,  was  a  faithful  follower  of 
Queen  Mary,  and  fled  with  her  from  Lang- 
side.  He  afterward  wrote  a  history  of  her 
reign.  He  was  forfeited  in  parliament,  but 
died  a  natural  death  in  1594.  His  son  was 
placed  in  possession  of  his  estates  in  1569. 
In  1570  the  Earl  of  Surrey  led  fifteen  thou- 
sand men  into   Scotland   by   command  of 


376    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland. 


Queen  Elizabeth  to  support  James  VI  after 
the  death  of  the  Regent  Moray.  His  army 
"  took  and  cast  down  the  castles  of  Caerlave- 
rock,  Hoddam,  Dumfries,  Tinwald,  Cowhill, 
and  sundry  other  gentlemen's  houses,  depend- 
ers  on  the  house  of  Maxwell;  and  having 
burnt  the  town  of  Dumfries,  they  returned 
with  great  spoil  into  England." 

The  castle  does  not  seem  to  have  been  seri- 
ously injured,  and  was  fully  restored  by  Rob- 
ert, first  Earl  of  Nithsdale,  after  his  acces- 
sion in  1620.  During  the  civil  war,  he  ex- 
pended his  whole  fortune  in  behalf  of  the 
cause  of  Charles  I.  In  1640  Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Home  attacked  the  castle  and  besieged 
it  for  thirteen  weeks.  The  owner  refused  to 
surrender  until  he  had  received  letters  from 
the  king,  authorizing  him  to  deliver  up  Caer- 
laverock  and  Threave  on  the  best  terms  he 
could  obtain.  This  was  the  end  of  the  castle 
as  a  place  of  defence  or  habitation,  the  Max- 
wells removing  to  another  house. 

Threave  Castle 

Threave  Castle,  a  fourteenth-century  keep 
of  the  Douglases,  stands  on  an  island  in  the 
River  Dee,  about  two  miles  from  the  town  of 


Southwestern  Scotland  377 


Castle-Douglas.  The  only  access  to  the  island 
is  by  fording  the  river  at  the  south  end.  The 
castle  consists  of  a  tower,  about  forty  feet  by 
sixty,  surrounded  by  portions  of  a  wall  which 
formerly  had  round  turrets  at  each  corner. 
The  entrance  was  by  a  gate  tower,  from  the 
top  of  which  a  drawbridge  gave  access  to  the 
second  floor  of  the  keep.  There  is  also  a 
doorway  at  the  ground  level.  The  basement 
was  vaulted,  and  above  this  were  three  wooden 
floors,  and  a  wooden  flat  roof,  supported  by 
strut  beams,  the  recesses  for  which  in  the  walls 
may  still  be  seen.  The  main  defence  of  the 
castle  was  by  wooden  hoardings  which  were 
supported  on  projecting  beams  all  around  the 
castle.  The  double  row  of  holes  for  the  re- 
ception of  these  beams  may  still  be  seen,  and 
all  around  the  walls  there  is  a  tunnel  just 
large  enough  to  crawl  through,  intended  to 
give  access  to  the  inner  ends  of  the  beams  to 
fasten  them  in  place.  This  is  the  best  pre- 
served example  of  this  kind  of  defence  to 
be  seen  in  Scotland. 

Threave  Castle  was  built  by  Archibald 
Douglas,  an  illegitimate  son  of  the  good  Sir 
James  Douglas,  about  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  bastard  he  was  created  Lord  of  Gallo- 


378    'Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


way,  and  later  succeeded  to  the  earldom  of 
Douglas.  He  sensed  in  both  home  and  for- 
eign wars,  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  Hali- 
don  in  1333  and  Poitiers  in  1356.  His  cruel 
and  hard-hearted  oppression  of  his  tenants 
and  peasants  in  Galloway  earned  him  uni- 
versal execration  and  the  title  of  "  Archibald 
the  Grim."  He  died  at  Threave  in  1401.  In 
1455  the  castle  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown 
by  Earl  James  Douglas,  and  was  afterwards 
transferred  to  the  custody  of  the  ^lax^vells. 
In  1640  the  Earl  of  Xithsdale  held  this  castle 
for  Charles  I,  as  well  as  Caerlaverock,  and 
armed,,  paid  and  fed  a  garrison  of  eighty  men; 
nor  did  he  siurender  except  on  written  orders 
from  the  king.  Thereafter  the  War  Council 
"  ordaines  the  hows  of  Threave  to  be  plighted," 
"  the  sklait  roofe  of  the  hows  and  battlement 
thairof  be  taken  downe,  with  the  lofting 
thairof,  dores  and  ^^^indows  of  the  samen,  and 
to  tak  out  the  haile  iron  worke  of  the  samen." 
Power  is  further  given  the  Laird  of  Bal- 
maghie  "  to  work  his  will  with  the  castle,  and 
to  put  sex  musqueteires  and  ane  sergand 
thairin,  to  be  enterteanit  upon  the  public." 
Since  that  time  the  elements  have  had  full 
sway  in  the  ruined  tower. 


Southwestern  Scotland  379 


Dunskey  Castle 

Dunskey  Castle,  on  the  high  and  rocky  sea- 
board in  the  town  of  Portpatrick,  is  an  an- 
cient seat  of  the  Blairs.  The  present  build- 
ing was  erected  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
is  now  very  ruinous.  It  occupies  a  strong 
site,  cutting  off  with  its  eastern  front  a  rocky 
neck,  which  is  further  cut  across  by  a  deep 
moat.  The  building  is  an  L-shaped  keep, 
with  a  long  wing  stretching  northward.  It 
does  not  figure  in  history  to  any  extent,  but 
makes  an  attractive  addition  to  a  desolate 
landscape. 

Ayrshire  is  full  of  castles,  numbered  by 
hundreds,  a  single  parish  on  the  west  coast 
being  able  to  enumerate  fifteen.  In  spite  of 
this  multiplicity,  few  of  them  possess  any 
particular  interest  except  as  picturesque  ad- 
juncts to  the  landscape.  The  western  prov- 
inces were  far  removed  from  the  capital,  and 
all  the  great  families  had  their  seats  in  more 
convenient  parts  of  the  country.  Far  from 
the  Border,  foreign  war  scarcely  disturbed  the 
peaceful  current  of  agricultural  life  in  the 
west,  and  Ayrshire  is  happy  in  that  it  has  no 
history.  Our  survey  of  these  castles  is  there- 
fore limited  to  a  bare  half-dozen. 


380    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


Turnberry  Castle 

This  famous  fortress,  situated  at  the  end 
of  a  promontory,  six  miles  north  of  Girvan, 
is  reduced  to  a  few  insignificant  fragments, 
but  possesses  great  historic  interest.  It  is  one 
of  the  oldest  castles  of  Scotland,  and  was  the 
seat  of  the  Celtic  Lords  of  Galloway.  Later 
it  became  the  seat  of  the  Earls  of  Carrick. 
In  1274,  Margaret,  Countess  of  Carrick,  was 
married  here  to  Robert  Bruce  of  Annandale, 
and  the  castle  later  became  the  property  of 
King  Robert  the  Bruce.  On  September  20th, 
1286,  there  was  held  here  the  first  recorded 
association  or  assembly  of  the  nobles  of  Scot- 
land, the  object  of  which  was  to  lay  plans 
to  support  the  claim  of  Robert  Bruce,  com- 
petitor for  the  Scottish  Crown.  In  1306  it 
was  held  for  the  English  by  Earl  Percy,  while 
King  Robert  Bruce  lay  in  exile  in  the  Isle 
of  Arran.  His  friends  were  to  give  him  sig- 
nal by  fire  when  the  hour  was  propitious  for 
him  to  return  and  attack  the  English,  and 
he  was  brought  over  prematurely  by  an  acci- 
dental fire,  referred  to  in  "  The  Lord  of  the 
Isles:" 

"  Wide  o'er  tlie  sky  the  splendour  glows, 
As  that  portentous  meteor  rose, 


Southwestern  Scotland  381 


Helm,  axe,  and  falchion  glitter'd  bright  j 
And  in  the  red  and  dusky  light, 
His  comrade's  face  each  warrior  saw, 
Nor  marvell'd  it  was  pale  with  awe. 
Then  high  in  air  the  beams  were  lost, 
And  darkness  sank  upon  the  coast." 

Returning,  Bruce  stormed  the  castle,  drove 
out  the  English  garrison,  and  obliged  them 
to  retire  to  Ayr.  This  incident  gave  him 
determination  to  keep  up  the  struggle,  and 
proved  the  turning  point  of  his  fortunes. 
Never  after  was  the  castle  inhabited;  its 
owner  had  passed  to  greater  things. 

Dunure  Castle 

Dunure  Castle,  the  original  residence  of  the 
Kennedies,  Earls  of  Cassilis,  stands  on  a  high 
rock  on  the  coast  of  Maybole,  a  town  of  which 
it  has  been  said,  "  No  fewer  than  twenty- 
eight  baronial  mansions,  stately,  turreted  and 
strong,  are  said  to  have  stood  within  its  lim- 
its." Little  is  left  of  Dunure,  except  frag- 
ments of  the  keep,  and  vaults  of  the  court- 
yard structures. 

"  The  description  of  the  means  by  which, 
in  Queen  Mary's  disturbed  reign,  Gilbert, 
Earl  of  Cassilis,  increased  his  domain  is  in- 


382    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


teresting,"  say  MacGibbon  and  Ross,  "  as  a 
specimen  of  the  mode  in  which  the  church 
lands  were  too  often  dealt  with  by  the  nobles 
and  lairds  about  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. The  earl's  proceedings  are  thus  de- 
scribed: *  Gilbertt  was  ane  particuler  manne, 
and  ane  werry  greidy  manne,  and  cairitt 
nocht  how  he  gatt  land,  sa  that  he  culd  cum 
be  the  samin.'  This  earl  schemed  with  one 
of  the  monks  of  Glenluce  Abbey  to  counter- 
feit the  necessary  signatures  to  a  deed  convey- 
ing to  him  the  lands  of  the  abbey.  Fearing 
that  the  monk  would  reveal  the  forgery,  he 
employed  a  '  cairill '  to  '  stik  '  him ;  and  then 
in  order  to  silence  the  latter,  the  earl  per- 
suaded his  uncle,  the  laird  of  Bargany,  to 
accuse  the  *  cairill '  of  theft  and  hang  him. 
'  And  sa  the  landis  of  Glenluse  wes  conqueist.' 
The  action  of  the  same  Earl  Gilbert,  for  the 
purpose  of  acquiring  the  lands  of  the  Abbey 
of  Crosraguel,  was  even  more  horrible.  *  At 
the  alteratioune  of  the  religioun,  my  Lord 
deltt  with  the  abbott,'  but  the  feu,  not  having 
been  confirmed  by  the  Crown,  was  disputed 
by  Allan  Stuart,  the  succeeding  abbot  or 
commendator.  The  earl  then  carried  him  off 
to  his  castle  of  Dunure,  and  '  Quhane  he  fand 
him  obstinatt,  at  last  tuik  him  and  band  him 


Southwestern  Scotland  383 

to  ane  furme,  and  sett  his  bair  legis  to  ane 
gritt  fyr,  and  extreymly  brunt  him  that  he 
was  ewer  thairefter  onabill  of  his  leggis.' 
The  laird  of  Bargany,  hearing  of  this  atroc- 
ity, sent  to  rescue  the  abbot.  His  men  con- 
cealed themselves  at  night  in  a  chapel  close 
to  the  gate  '  at  the  drawbrig-end,'  and  when 
the  gate  was  opened  in  the  morning  they 
rushed  in  and  took  possession.  The  earl  was 
absent,  but  soon  returned,  and  endeavoured 
to  retake  the  castle.  His  followers  entered 
the  chapel  above  mentioned,  and  attempted 
to  mine  the  wall  of  the  '  dungeone '  which 
adjoined  it.  *  Bot  the  Lairdis  menne,  that 
was  within,  keist  gritt  staneis  doune  of  the 
heiche  battelling  of  the  dungeone:  and  sa 
brak  the  ruiff  of  the  chapell,  in  sik  maner, 
that  thay  war  forssitt  to  leiff  the  samin.' 
Bargany  soon  appeared  on  the  scene  with  a 
strong  force,  and  removed  the  abbot  to  Ayr, 
and  after  a  time,  and  with  some  negotiation, 
'  all  agreyitt.  Me  Lord  gaiff  the  Abott  sum 
mony  to  leiff  wpone,  quhilk  contentit  him  all 
his  dayis.  And  this  way  wes  my  lordis  con- 
queise  of  Corsragall;  quhilk  wes  bot  ane  bad 
forme.' " 

The  feud  which  arose  from  this  event  was 
the  cause  later  of  a  very  tragical  happening, 


384    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


thus  told  by  an  anonymous  writer:  "  In  De- 
cember, 1601,  the  Earl  of  Cassilis  rode  out 
from  Maybole  Castle  at  the  head  of  two  hun- 
dred armed  followers  to  waylay  the  Laird  of 
Bargany  on  a  ride  from  Ayr  to  his  house  on 
Girvan-water ;  and  on  the  farm  of  West 
Enoch,  about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  town, 
he  forced  on  the  Laird  an  utterly  unequal 
conflict,  and  speedily  brought  him  and  several 
faithful  adherents  gorily  to  the  ground.  The 
Laird,  mortally  wounded,  was  carried  from 
the  scene  of  the  onset  to  Maybole,  that  he 
might  there,  if  he  should  evince  any  symp- 
tom of  recovery,  be  despatched  by  the  Earl 
as  *  Judge  Ordinar '  of  the  country ;  and 
thence  he  was  removed  to  Ayr,  where  he 
died  in  a  few  hours.  Flagrant  though  the 
deed  was,  it  not  only  —  through  manoeuvring 
and  state  influence  highly  characteristic  of 
the  period  —  passed  with  impunity,  but  was 
formally  noted  by  an  act  of  council  as  good 
service  to  the  King.  The  Laird  of  Auchen- 
drane,  son-in-law  of  the  slain  baron,  was  one 
of  the  few  adherents  who  bravely  but  vainly 
attempted  to  parry  the  onslaught,  and  he 
received  some  severe  wounds  in  the  encounter. 
Thirsting  for  vengeance,  and  learning  that 
Sir  Thomas  Kennedy  of  Colzean  intended  to 


Southwestern  Scotland  385 


make  a  journey  to  Edinburgh,  he  so  secretly 
instigated  a  party  to  waylay  and  kill  him, 
that  no  witness  existed  of  his  connexion  with 
them  except  a  poor  student  of  the  name  of 
Dalrymple,  who  had  been  the  bearer  of  the 
intelligence  which  suggested  and  guided  the 
crime.  Dalrymple  now  became  the  object  of 
his  fears;  and,  after  having  been  confined  at 
Auchendrane,  and  in  the  island  of  Arran, 
and  expatriated  for  five  or  six  years  a  sol- 
dier, he  returned  home  and  was  doomed  to 
destruction.  Mure,  the  Laird,  having  got  a 
vassal,  called  James  Bannatyne,  to  entice  him 
to  his  house,  situated  at  Chapel-Donan,  a 
lonely  place  on  the  coast,  murdered  him  there 
at  midnight,  and  buried  his  body  in  the  sand. 
The  corpse,  speedily  unearthed  by  the  tide, 
was  carried  out  by  the  assassin  to  the  sea  at 
a  time  when  a  strong  wind  blew  from  the 
shore,  but  was  very  soon  brought  back  by 
the  waves,  and  lodged  on  the  very  scene  of 
the  murder.  Mure,  and  his  son  who  aided 
him  in  the  horrid  transactions,  fell  under  gen- 
eral suspicion  and  now  endeavoured  to  des- 
troy Bannatyne,  the  witness  and  accomplice 
of  their  guilt;  but  the  unhappy  peasant  mak- 
ing full  confession  to  the  civil  authorities, 
they  were  brought  up  from  an  imprisonment 


386    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


into  which  the  King,  roused  by  general  in- 
dignation, had  already  thrown  them,  and  were 
placed  at  the  bar,  pronounced  guilty,  and  sum- 
marily and  ignominiously  put  to  death." 

Another  of  the  fifteen  castles  of  which  the 
town  of  Maybole  boasts  is  Greenan,  a  tall 
gaunt  keep  which  occupies  a  picturesque 
position  in  the  bay  of  Ayr,  about  three  miles 
south  of  that  town. 

Dundonald  Castle 

Dundonald  Castle,  which  stands  in  a  most 
conspicuous  position  on  an  isolated  hill  eight 
miles  north  of  Ayr,  is  a  royal  castle  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  It  was  originally  a  very 
extensive  structure,  as  is  evident  from  the 
size  of  the  keep,  about  eighty  feet  long  and 
forty  feet  wide,  and  the  remains  of  the  wall 
of  enceinte,  which  cover  a  large  part  of  the 
hilltop.  The  present  castle,  old  as  it  is,  is 
built  on  the  ruins  of  one  still  older,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  base  of  an  old  round  tower 
which  has  been  built  into  the  west  wall  of  the 
keep.  The  interior  of  the  keep  contains  only 
two  lofty  pointed  vaults.  There  was  cer- 
tainly at  least  one  more  floor,  but  its  walls 
have  fallen  out. 


Southwestern  Scotland  387 


The  castle  has  never  been  the  scene  of  any 
historical  events.  Its  sole  claim  to  fame  is 
that  it  was  a  favourite  residence  of  some  of 
the  kings  of  Scotland.  "  The  manor  of  Dun-, 
donald,"  says  Chalmers,  "  belonged  to  Walter 
the  son  of  Alan,  the  first  Stuart,  who  held 
the  whole  of  the  northern  half  of  Kyle,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  William  the  Lion; 
and  it  might  have  been  granted  to  him  by 
David  I,  or  his  successor  Malcolm  IV.  Per- 
haps the  castle  of  Dundonald  was  built  by 
the  first  Walter,  who  had  no  appropriate 
house  or  castle  when  he  settled  in  Scotland. 
It  seems  to  have  been  the  only  castle  which 
the  Stuarts  had  in  their  extensive  barony  of 
Kyle  Stuart;  but  several  of  their  vassals  had 
small  castles  in  that  district." 

Robert  II,  after  he  ascended  the  throne, 
lived  much  in  Dundonald,  and  died  there  in 
1390.  His  son  Robert  III  also  resided  here 
occasionally. 

Dean  Castle 

Dean  Castle  stands  some  little  distance 
northeast  of  the  town  of  Kilmarnock,  and  is 
an  excellent  specimen  of  an  early  keep  ex- 
tended into  a  courtyard  castle.    It  belonged 


388    Castles  and  Keeps  of  Scotland 


to  the  once  powerful  family  of  the  Boyds. 
Lord  Boyd  was  created  a  peer  by  James  II, 
and  his  brother  Alexander  was  tutor  in  horse- 
manship to  the  boy  James  III.  Becoming 
favourites,  the  Boyds  became  masters  of  the 
king's  person  in  1466,  and  Lord  Boyd  re- 
ceived the  highest  offices  of  the  kingdom. 
His  son  was  created  Earl  of  Arran  and  mar- 
ried the  Princess  Mary,  sister  of  the  king. 
Their  fall  was  as  rapid  as  their  rise.  Found 
guilty  of  treason  in  1469,  Sir  Alexander  was 
beheaded,  and  the  Earl  of  Arran  fled  to  Den- 
mark. His  wife  was  confined  in  Dean  Castle 
as  long  as  he  lived.  The  castle  was  ruined 
by  fire  in  1735.  It  consists  of  a  massive  keep, 
another  tower,  and  some  buildings  between. 
The  castle  is  similar  to  Doune. 

A  traditional  rhyme  of  the  district  thus 
alludes  to  the  last  Earl  of  Kilmarnock,  who 
lost  his  title  and  estates  by  joining  in  the 
Rebellion  of  1745,  and  whose  crest  was  a 
"  loupen  hand,"  that  is,  one  with  two  fingers 
folded  in  on  the  palm:  — 

"  The  water  of  Garth  runs  by  the  Dean, 
That  ance  was  Lord  BoycVs  lodgin' : 
The  lord  wi'  the  loupen  han', 
He  lost  his  title  and  his  lan\" 


THE  END. 


INDEX 


Abbey  Craig,  27. 
Abbot  of  Unreason,  257,  258, 
259- 

Abbotsford,  174,  345. 
Aberdeen,  175. 
Aberdeenshire,  9,  104. 
Abernethy,  83. 
Achaius,  King,  75. 
Achanduin  Castle,  70. 
Achencass  Castle,  10. 
Ackergill  Castle,  86. 
Acropolis  of  Athens,  132. 
Ada,  niece  of  Malcolm  IV, 
167. 

Adventurers,  298,  299. 
Agatha,  Queen  of  England, 
177. 

Agnes,  Countess  of  Dunbar, 

283. 
Agricola,  140. 
Ailsa  Craig,  27,  322. 
Airlie  Castle,  128-130. 
Airlie,    Ogilvies,    Earls  of, 

128,  129. 
Aitherny,  House  of,  124. 
Aitherny,  Watson  of,  123. 
Albany,  Alexander,  Duke  of, 

39,  214,  215,  216,  217,  285, 

286. 

Albany,  Duke  of,  252,  314, 
324. 

Albany,  Isabella,  Duchess  of, 

146,  152,  312. 
Albany,  Murdoch,  Duke  of, 

138,  146,  147,  152,  153,  160, 

168,  209,  256,  312,  325,  368, 

374. 


Albany,  Robert  Stuart,  Duke 
of.  Regent  of  Scotland, 
147,  152,  167,  168,  312. 

Alcluyd,  26. 

Alcuin,  198. 

Aldhame,  321. 

Alexander  Comyn,   Earl  of 

Buchan,  280,  281. 
Alexander,  Duke  of  Albany, 

39,  214,  215,  216,  217,  285, 

286. 

Alexander,  Earl  of  Ross, 
Lord  of  the  Isles,  81,  312. 

Alexander  II,  King  of  Scot- 
land, II,  38,  141,  200,  252. 

Alexander  III,  King  of 
Scotland,  11,  12,  41,  56,  85, 
200,  201,  279. 

Alexander  of  Argyle,  56,  62, 
63. 

Alexander    Seton,    Earl  of 

Dunfermline,  106. 
Alexander,  Sir  William,  226. 
A]  ford,  108. 
Allan  River,  136. 
Alloa,  183. 
Almond  River,  157. 
Alnwick  Castle,  196. 
Alyth,  128. 
Angles,  195. 
Angus,  64,  117,  163. 
Angus,   Archibald,   Earl  of, 

216,  313,  314,  31S,  354- 
Angus,  Earls  of,  39,  161,  354, 

362. 

Angus,  George,  Earl  of,  313. 
Angus,  Kitchen  of,  120, 


390 


Index 


Angus,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  53. 
Angus  Og,  Lord  of  the  Isles, 
69. 

Angus,  William,  Marquis  of 
Douglas,  Earl  of,  316. 

Anna,  Duchess  of  Monmouth 
and  Buccleuch,  352. 

Annandale,  366,  367,  368,  369, 
370. 

Annandale,  Earl  of,  369. 
Annandale,  Robert  Bruce  of, 
380. 

Anne,  Queen  of  England, 
133- 

Antoninus,  Wall  of,  26,  189. 
Appin,  70. 

Appin,  Duncan  Stuart  of,  70. 

Archibald,  Earl  of  Angus, 
216,  313,  314,  315,  354- 

Archibald  the  Grim,  Earl  of 
Douglas,  39,  377. 

Ardchonnel  Castle,  52-54. 

Ardnamurchan,  68. 

Ardoch  River,  145,  152. 

Ardtornish  or  Artornish  Cas- 
tle, 55,  66-67. 

Ardvreck  Castle,  86. 

Argyle,  41,  48,  50,  56,  66,  98. 

Argyle,  Alexander  of,  56,  62, 
63. 

Argyle,  Bishop  of,  70. 
Argyle,  Colin  Campbell,  first 

Earl  of,  56. 
Argyle,  Countess  of,  245. 
Argyle,  Dugal,  Thane  of,  56. 
Argyle,  Duke  of,  50,  299. 
Argyle,  Earl  of,  53,  129,  130, 

161,  183,  228,  229,  232,  296, 

328. 

Argyle,  Marquis  of,  69,  70, 

75,  76,  228,  232. 
Argyle,  Reginald,  Thane  of, 

56. 

Argyle,  Somerled,  Thane  of, 
56. 

Argyle   Highlanders,  121. 
Argyles,  52,  63,  183. 
Argyllshire,  33,  46-71,  75- 


Armada,  60. 

Armstrong,  John,  361-364. 
Aros  Castle,  17,  67-68. 
Arran,  66,  380,  384. 
Arran,  Earl  of,  158,  306,  388. 
Arran,  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton 

of,  238. 
Arthur,    King   of  England, 

193. 

Arthur's  Seat,  136,  193. 
Artillery,  19,  20. 
Athens,  132. 

Athole,  Duke  of,  53,  104,  158. 
Athole,  Earl  of,  279,  281. 
Attica,  136, 

Auchendrane  Castle,  384. 
Auchendrane,    Mure,  Laird 

of,  384,  385. 
Auchinbreck,  76. 
Auchinbreck,    Campbell  of, 

76,  97- 
Auchindown  Castle,  70. 
Auchmull  Castle,  124. 
Augustinian  friars,  240. 
Aviemore,  84. 
Ayr,  381,  383,  384,  386. 
Ayrshire,  379. 

Badenoch,  9,  53,  81,  82,  84, 

103,  104. 
Badenoch,  Wolf  of,  83,  84, 

104. 

Balcarres,  Lady  Sophia  Lind- 
say of,  232. 
Balcarres,  Lord,  233. 
Balclutha,  27. 

Balfour,  Gilbert,  of  Westray, 

QT. 

Balfour,  Lord,  of  Burleigh, 
174. 

Balfours,  174. 

Baliol,  Edward,  28,  41,  46, 
48,  62,  63,  104,  171,  202,  205, 
241,  282. 

Baliol,  John,  141. 

Ballangleich,  Laird  of,  138, 
143. 

Ballencrieff,  62. 


Index 


391 


Ballone  Castle,  85. 
Balmaghie,  Laird  of,  378. 
Balnakiel  Castle,  86. 
Banchory,  116. 
Bannatyne,  James,  385. 
Bannockbiirn,    12,    16,  139, 

282,  331,  373,  374. 
Banquo,  75. 
Bar,  277. 

Barcaldine  Castle,  70. 
Bargany,  Laird  of,  382,  383, 
384. 

Barrow,  Thomas,  155. 
Bass,  Lauder  of  the,  324,  368. 
Bass  Rock,  27,  314,  316,  319- 
330. 

Battle  of  the  Standard,  367. 
Beague,  320. 

Beaton,    Archbishop    of  St. 

Andrews,     and  Cardinal, 

161,  165,  296,  321. 
Beaton,    James,  Archbishop 

of  Glasgow,  259,  260. 
Beaton,    servant   to  Queen 

Mary,  173. 
Beck,    Anthony,    Bishop  of 

Durham,  331,  332. 
Bede,  Venerable.  26. 
"  Bell  -  the  -  Cat,"  Archibald, 

Earl  of  Angus,  216,  313, 

314,  315. 
Ben  Cruachan,  51. 
Benedict,  Pope,  iii. 
Berriedale  Castle,  86. 
Berwick,  133,  282,  288,  337. 
Berwick  Castle,  141,  278. 
Berwickshire,  314,  335. 
Bethel,  60. 

Billings,  vi,  106,  107. 
Binny,   William,  189. 
Birsay  Palace,  88-90. 
Bisset,  Walter,  279. 
Bissets,  279. 
Bjorn  Brynulfson,  94. 
Black  Bull's  Head,  212,  237. 
Black  Rood  of  Scotland,  196. 
Blackadder,    Colonel  John, 
326. 


Blackadder,  John,  Minister  of 

Troqueer,  326. 
Blackness  Castle,  154. 
Blair,  David,  328. 
Blairs,  379. 
Blanc,  227. 
Blantyre,  204,  205. 
Blind    Harry   the  Minstrel, 

157,  159. 
Bloody  Bay,  53. 
Bocharm  Castle,  9. 
Boece,  198. 

Bohun,    William,    Earl  of 

Hereford,  367. 
Bois,  Alexander.  79. 
Borlum,  Brigadier  Mcintosh 

of,  298. 
Borough  Moor,  206. 
Borthwick    Castle,  253-263, 

289. 

Borthwick,  David,  262. 
Borthwick,  John,  Lord,  257, 
259. 

Borthwick,   Lord,   260,  262, 
268. 

Borthwick,  Robert,  262. 
Borthwick,  Sir  James,  262. 
Borthwick,  Sir  William,  253, 
256. 

Bosphorus,  136. 

Bothwell,  Adam,  Bishop  of 

Orkney,  91. 
Bothwell,    Andrew  Moray, 

Lord,  38. 
Bothwell  Castle,  vii,  10,  11, 

37-40,  354. 
Bothwell,     Francis  Stuart, 

Earl  of,  39,  264. 
Bothwell.    James  Hepburn, 

Earl  of,  39,  91,  243,  245, 

247,  248,  253,  259,  260,  264, 

288,  289,  296,  297,  302,  303, 

355- 

Bothwell,   Patrick  Hepburn, 

Earl  of,  39,  264,  354. 
Bothwellhaugh,  Hamilton  of, 

187. 

Bouillon,  Duchess  of,  286. 


392 


Index 


Bour,  John,  338. 

Boyd,  Lord,  388. 

Boyd,  Sir  Alexander,  388. 

Braal  Castle,  86. 

Brae,  Fraser  of,  327,  329. 

Bran,  55. 

Brand,  John,  248. 

Brander,  Pass  of,  54. 

Branxholm  Castle,  346-350. 

Branxholm,  Sir  Walter  Scott 
of,  348,  350. 

Breadalbane,  John,  Earl  of,  52 

Breadalbanes,  52,  156. 

Brechin  Castle,  9. 

Breze,  Monsieur  de,  29. 

Brins  Castle,  86. 

Britons,  28,  193,  194,  195. 

Brochs,  3,  72,  93-95,  305. 

Brooch  of  Lorn,  58,  62. 

Broomhill,  83. 

Bruce,  Laurance,  93, 

Bruce,  Mrs.,  184. 

Bruce,  Robert,  cousin  of 
David  II,  183. 

Bruce,  Robert,  King  of  Scot- 
land, 2,  12,  28,  29,  38,  41, 
46,  48,  49,  54,  56,  62,  63,  79. 
81,  109,  116,  143,  178,  183, 
184,  189,  190,  201,  202,  205, 
231,  233,  241,  268,  270,  274, 
282,  283,  366,  367,  373,  380, 
381. 

Bruce,  Robert,  of  Annandale, 
380. 

Bruce,  Sir  William,  243. 
Bruces,  109,  184,  280,  365,  366. 
Brudi,  King  of  the  Picts,  194. 
Brus,  Robert  de,  366. 
Buccleuch,  Anna,  Duchess  of 

Monmouth  and,  352. 
Buccleuch,  Laird  of,  39. 
Buccleuch,  Scotts  of,  351. 
Buccleuch,  Sir  William  Scott 

of,  347. 
Buccleuchs,  348,  355. 
Buchan,    Alexander  Comyn, 

Earl  of,  280,  281. 
Bucholie  Castle,  86. 


Bullock,  William,  206. 
Bunnock,  William,  189. 
Burleigh  Castle,  174-176, 
Burleigh,   Lord   Balfour  of, 
174- 

Burleigh,  Ships  of,  175. 
Burnet,  230. 
Burnetts  of  Lys,  116. 
Burn  of  Care,  181. 
Burn  of  Sorrow,  181. 
Bute,  40,  42,  209. 
Bute,  Kyles  of,  46,  47. 
Byres,  Lord  Lindsay  of  the, 
III,  120,  172,  246,  259. 

Caerlaverock  Castle,  10,  370- 

376,  378. 
Cairtoun,  42. 

Caithness,  72,  86,  108,  268. 

Caithness,  Gilbert  de  Mora- 
via, Bishop  of,  108. 

Cakemuir  Castle,  260. 

Calder,  97,  98. 

Calder,  Muriella,  97,  98. 

Calder,  Sandilands,  Laird  of, 
269. 

Calder    Castle,    see  Cawdor 

Castle. 
Calders  of  Calder,  97. 
Caledonian  Canal,  9,  72,  73, 

74,  77,  80,  96. 
Camden,  332. 
Campbell,  Arthur,  63. 
Campbell,  Colin,  Earl  of  Ar- 

gyle,  56. 
Campbell  of  Auchinbreck,  76, 

97. 

Campbell  of  Inverliver,  97. 

Campbell,  Sir  Colin,  of 
Lochow,  63. 

Campbell,  Sir  Duncan,  of 
Glenorchy,  70. 

Campbell,  Sir  George,  of 
Cessnock,  326. 

Campbell,  Sir  Hugh,  of  Cess- 
nock, 326. 

Campbell,  Sir  James,  of  Glen- 
orchy, 52. 


Index 


393 


Campbells,  47,  48,  53,  76,  97, 
98. 

Canada,  226. 
Canonbie,  361. 
Cant,  Andrew,  113. 
Canty  Bay,  330. 
Canute,    King    of  England, 
195- 

Capella,  Sir  John  de,  252. 
Carberry  Hill,  172,  289. 
Carham,  195. 
Carlingwark,  230. 
Carlisle,  5. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  370. 
Carlyles,  369. 
Carrick,  42. 

Carrick,  David,  Earl  of,  42. 
Carrick,  Earl  of,  324,  380. 
Carrick,   John    Stuart,  Earl 

of,  see  Robert  III. 
Carrick,  Margaret,  Countess 

of,  380. 
Car th  Water,  388. 
Cassilis,  Gilbert,  Earl  of,  381, 

382,  384. 
Cassilis,  Kennedies,  Earls  of, 

381. 

Castelh-Mynyd-Agned,  193. 
Castle  Building  in  Scotland. 

First  Period,  8-1 1. 

Second  Period,  11-17. 

Third  Period,  17-20. 

Fourth  Period,  20-25. 
Castle  Campbell,  vii,  17,  180- 

184. 

Castle  Craig,  85. 
Castle-Douglas,  377. 
Castle  of  Gloom,  181. 
Castle  of  the  Maidens,  194. 
Castle  Leod,  85. 
Castle  Roy,  10,  83-84. 
Castle   Stalcaire  or  Stalker, 
70. 

Castle  Swin,  10. 
Castrum  Puellarum,  194. 
Caterans,  120,  126. 
Cawdor,  06. 

Cawdor  Castle,  96-101,  104. 


Cawdor,  Thane  of,  104. 

Ceanlarig,  364. 

Cecil,  259. 

Celts,  72,  194. 

Cessford  Castle,  341-343. 

Cessnock,  Sir  George  Camp- 
bell of,  326. 

Cessnock,  Sir  Hugh  Camp- 
bell of,  326. 

Chalmers,  387. 

Chapel-Donan,  385. 

Charlemagne,  75. 

Charles  I,  King  of  England, 
76,  169,  178,  220,  226,  ^33, 
237,  242,  244,  296,  298,  376, 
378. 

Charles  II,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 115,  169,  178,  243,  326. 

Charles  VI ,  King  of  France, 
209. 

Charles  Edward  Stuart, 
Prince,  77,  82,  137,  144,  154, 
190,  221,  244. 

Chastelard,  244. 

Cheviots,  344. 

Christian,    sister    of  Edgar 

Atheling,  177. 
Christian,    sister    of  King 

Robert  Bruce,  38. 
Civil  War,  332,  340. 
Clach-na-cau,  55. 
Clackmannan    Tower,  183- 

184. 

Clanranald,  69. 
Claverhouse,  83,  233. 
Cleopatra,  133. 

Closeburn,    Roger  Kirkpat- 

rick  of,  374. 
Clyde  River  and  Firth,  26,  27, 

33,  34,  37,  46,  354- 
Clydesdale,  347. 
Cochbevis,  Sir  John,  238. 
Cockburn     of  Henderland, 

363- 

Cockburn,  Thomas,  340,  341. 

Cockenzie,  29^^;. 

Colin  Campbell,  Earl  of  Ar- 

gyle,  56. 


394 


Index 


Colkitto,  Allaster  Macdonald 
of,  67,  69. 

Colzean,  Sir  Thomas  Ken- 
nedy of,  384. 

Commonwealth,   113,  233. 

Comyn,  Alexander,  Earl  of 
Biichan,  280,  281. 

Comyn,  The  Red,  62. 

Comyn,  Walter,  Earl  of 
Menteith,  353,  354. 

Comyns,  74,  75,  79,  81,  82,  84, 
103,  367. 

Conference  of  Craigmillar, 
253- 

Congal,  King  of  the  Picts, 
171. 

Congleton  Castle,  10. 
Constantinople,  136. 
Copeland,  John,  284. 
Corstorphine,    Forrester  of, 
264. 

Cospatrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar 

and  March,  277,  278. 
Courtyard  Castles,  17,  22. 
Covenant,  113,  129. 
Covenanters,  69,  113,  115,  220, 

316,  326,  327,  343. 
Cowal,  42. 
Cowhill  Castle,  376. 
Craigmillar    Castle,    vii,  17, 

214,  249-253,  269. 
Craigmillar,    Conference  of, 

253- 

Craignethan  Castle,  vii,  33-37. 
Craill  Castle,  9. 
Crathes  Castle,  109,  115-117, 
127. 

Crawford,  Earl  of,  118,  125, 
126,  135. 

Crawford  of  Jordanhill,  Cap- 
tain, 30,  32. 

Creich,  Laird  of,  245. 

Crichton  Castle,  17,  212,  256, 
259,  263-266. 

Crichton,  Lord.  39. 

Crichton,  Sir  William,  Chan- 
cellor to  James  I,  39,  210, 
211,  212,  213,  237,  264. 


Croc,  Robert,  of  Crookston, 
44- 

Cromarty,  84. 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  33,  91,  92, 
109,  190,  220,  233,  237,  243, 
255,  261,  262,  281,  299,  301, 
340,  352,  359. 

Crookston  Castle,  44-45. 

Crookston,  Robert  Croc  of, 
44. 

Crookston  Tree,  44. 
Crosraguel  Abbey,  382. 
Crossford,  33,  34. 
Crusades,  7,  12,  52. 
Cullen,  277. 
Culloden,  83. 

Cumberland,  348,  370,  374. 
Cumberland,    Duke    of,  77, 

144,  244. 
Cunningham,  Laird  of  Drum- 

whassel,  30,  31, 
Cymry,  193. 

Dalhousie,  Sir  Alexander 
Ramsay  of,  274,  277,  285. 

Dalmally,  50,  53. 

Dairy,  42,  62. 

Dalrymple,  384. 

Dalrymple,  Sir  Hew,  317. 

Dalswinton  Castle,  10,  374. 

Damietta,  279. 

Danes,  75,  140,  277. 

Darcy,  Sir  Arthur,  342. 

Darnick  Tower,  345-346. 

Darnley,  Henry,  King-Con- 
sort of  Scotland,  30,  33,  39, 
44,  217,  218,  236,  242,  243, 
244,  245,  246,  247,  248,  249, 
253,  303,  346. 

Dauphin,  Francis,  husband  of 
Queen  Mary,  217,  231,  288. 

David,  Duke  of  Rothesay, 
160,  167,  208,  209. 

David.  Earl  of  Carrick,  42. 

David  I,  King  of  Scotland, 
9,  189,  198,  200,  227,  240, 
366.  387. 

David  II,  King  of  Scotland, 


Index 


395 


63,  171,  183,  190,  207,  274, 

354,  367,  374- 
Dean  Castle,  387-388. 
Dee,  River,  109,  116,  376. 
Defoe,  Daniel,  322. 
Denmark,  224,  388. 
Desmond,  Earl  of,  85. 
Dirleton,  330. 
Dirleton,  Baron,  332. 
Dirleton  Castle,  11,  18,  330- 

334,  356. 
Dirleton,  Lord,  268,  331. 
Dirlot  Castle,  86. 
Dog's  Pillar,  55. 
Dollar,  184. 
Don,  River,  108. 
Donalbain,  197. 
Donald  Dubh,  Lord  of  the 

Isles,  53. 
Donald,  Earl  of  Ross,  Lord 

of  the  Isles,  64. 
Dongart,  King  of  the  Picts, 

171. 

Donibristle,  153. 
Doon  Hill,  281. 
Doric  order,  87. 
Douglas,  Archibald,  Lord  of 

Galloway,  368,  377. 
Douglas,  Archibald  the  Grim, 

Earl  of,  39,  377. 
Douglas  Castle,  10. 
Douglas,  David,  212. 
Douglas,  Duke  of,  317, 
Douglas,  Earl  of,  135,  143, 

210,  211,  368. 
Douglas,  George,  173,  245. 
Douglas,  James,  Earl  of,  64, 

378. 

Douglas,   James   the  Gross, 

Earl  of.  213. 
Douglas,  Lady  Jane,  223. 
Douglas,  Lord  James,  268. 
Douglas,  Margaret,  Countess 

of  St.  Clair,  269. 
Douglas,  Patrick,  303. 
Douglas,  Sir  James,  282,  377. 
Douglas,     Sir     Robert,  of 

Lochleven,  172. 


Doliglas,  William,  173. 
Douglas,    William,    Earl  of 

Angus,  Marquis  of,  316. 
Douglas,  William,  Knight  of 

Liddesdale,   206,   207,  354, 

355- 

Douglases,  2,  40,    104,  237, 

304,  313,  351,  376. 
Doune,  145. 

Doune  Castle,  vii,  18,  20,  137, 

144-155,  256,  263,  309,  310, 

312.  388. 
Downreay  Castle,  86. 
Draffane,  36. 
Drumcall,  42. 
Drum  Castle,  17,  109. 
Drumerline,  Tweedie,  Laird 

of,  269. 
Drumlanrig,  Stuart,  Laird  of, 

269. 

Drummond,     William,  274, 
298. 

Drumwhassel,  Cunningham, 

Laird  of,  30,  31. 
Drury,  Sir  William,  219,  337. 
Dryden,  272. 

Dryhope  Tower,  350-351. 

Duart  Castle,  10,  64-66,  68. 

Dublin,  57. 

Duffus  Castle,  9. 

Dugal,  Thane  of  Argyle,  56. 

Dumbarton  Castle,  10,  20,  26- 

33,  131,  139,  231. 
Dumbuck,  27,  31. 
Dumfries,  367,  369,  370,  376. 
Dumfries  Castle,  376. 
Dumfriesshire,  368. 
Dunbar,  Agnes,  Countess  of, 

283. 

Dunbar,  Battle  of,  201,  261. 
Dunbar  Castle,   10,  20,  216, 

260,  276-289,  295,  296,  314. 
Dunbar,  Cospatrick,  Earl  of, 

277,  278. 
Dunbar,  Family  of,  277. 
Dunbar,  George,  Earl  of,  285. 
Dunbar,    Marjory,  Countess 

of,  280. 


396 


Index 


Dunbar,    Patrick,    Earl  of, 

200,  278,  279,  280,  282,  336. 
Diinbriton,  26. 
Duncan,  Earl  of  Fife,  167. 
Duncan,  Earl  of  Lennox,  137. 
Duncan,  Geilie,  223,  224. 
Duncan,  King  of  Scotland, 

80,  127. 
Dundee,  229,  233. 
Dundonald  Castle,  16,  42,  369, 

386-387. 
Dun-Edin,  194. 
Dunfermline,  172,  176,  179. 
Dunfermline  Abbey,  196,  197. 
Dunfermline,  Alexander  Se- 

ton.  Earl  of,  106. 
Dunfermline  Palace,  176-179. 
Dunglas  Castle,  290-295. 
Dunibeath  Castle,  86. 
Dunkeld,  129. 

Dunnottar   Castle,   vii,  iio- 

115.  117,  234. 
Dunolly  Castle,  54-57,  63. 
Dunoon,  42,  46. 
Dunrobin  Castle,  85. 
Dunskey  Castle,  379. 
Dunstaffnage    Castle,   9,  48, 

55,  56,  57,  58-64. 
Duntreath,   Edmonstones  of, 

153- 

Dunure  Castle,  381-386. 

Durham.  331,  370. 

Durham,    Anthony  Beck, 

Bishop  of.  331,  332. 
Durie,  Family  of,  121. 
Duriehill,  121. 
Durwards,  79. 

Eagle's  Loup,  126. 

Earlston.  Alexander  Gordon 

of,  326. 
East  Linton,  301,  302. 
East  Lothian,  276-334. 
East  Wemvss,  166. 
Edderchalder  Castle,  86. 
Edgar  Atheling,  177,  195,  277. 
Edgnr,    King    of  Scotland, 

197. 


Edinburgh,  33,  125,  168,  176, 
184,  186,  241,  249,  252,  260, 
261,  266,  269,  274,  282,  289, 
297,  299,  306,  312,  314,  326, 
327,  330,  337,  338,  340,  363, 
384. 

BIyth  Close,  236. 
Canongate,  214,  248. 
Grassmarket,  238. 
Guise  Palace,  236. 
Kirk  o'  Field,  248,  249. 
IMound,  222. 

Nor'  Loch,  214,  222,  227. 
Princes  Street,  222. 
Ro\'al  Exchange,  225. 
St.  Giles  Church,  208,  211, 

239,  312. 
Waverley    Street  Bridge, 

2  ^2 

West  Bow.  202. 
Edinburgh,  Bishop  of,  327. 
Edinburgh  Castle,  vi,  10,  20, 

53,  131,  139,  141,  143,  191- 

239,  286. 

Arg3'le  Battery,  196,  229. 
Arg}le    Tower,    199,  227, 

229.  232. 
Castlehill,  132,  192,  193,  222, 

223,  225,  226.  227. 
Crown  Room,  233,  234,  235. 
David's   Tower,   207,  214, 

227. 

Dogs'  Cemeter>%  239. 
Esplanade,  222,  225. 
Half   Moon   Battery,  227, 
233- 

Mons  Meg,  230,  231. 
Outer  Port,  227. 
Palace  Yard,  233. 
Parliament  Hall,  237. 
Portcullis  Gate,  227. 
St.  Margaret's  Chapel,  196, 
231. 

Wellhouse  Tower,  214,  239. 
Edinburghshire,     205,  240- 
275- 

Edm.onstones  of  Duntreath, 
153- 


Index 


397 


Edmund  Ironsides,  King  of 
England,  177. 

Edward  I,  King  of  England, 
28.  38,  48,  61,  75,  79,  81, 
103,  109,  141,  157,  160,  189, 
201,  232,  280,  281,  330,  331, 
366,  370,  371,  373- 

Edward  II,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 142,  201,  205,  282. 

Edward  III,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 113,  139,  157,  160,  171, 
200,  205,  206,  207,  242,  282, 
367. 

Edward  IV,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 67,  216. 

Edward,  Prince  of  England, 
315. 

Edward  the  Confessor,  King 

of  England,  195. 
Edwin  of  Deira,  194. 
Edwin's-burgh,  194. 
Edzell,  117,  125,  126. 
Edzell  Castle,  1 17-125. 
Edzell,  Lindsays  of,  118,  120, 

125,  126. 
Egbert    of  Northumberland, 

28. 

Egfrith  of  Northumbria,  194. 

Egill's  Saga,  94. 

Egypt,  279. 

Elcho  Castle,  159. 

Elchoch,  159. 

Elgin,  102. 

Elgin,  Earl  of,  184. 

Elizabeth,  Countess  of  Mo- 
ray, 153. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Bohemia, 
178. 

Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England, 
174,  219,  220,  248,  288,  316, 
338,  376. 

Ellendonan,  84. 

Elliott  of  the  Parke,  355. 

Elphinstone  Castle,  304-305. 

Ere,  61. 

Erlend  Yunga,  Jarl,  95. 
Ermengarde,  wife  of  Will- 
iam the  Lion,  200. 


Ersildown,  Thomas  Lear- 
mouth  of,  201,  279,  280. 

Erskin,  Arthur,  245. 

Erskine,  Lord,  252. 

Erskine,  Sir  Thomas,  332. 

Esk  River,  273,  274,  361, 

Ethelfrith  of  Northumbria, 
194- 

Ettrick  Forest,  351,  359,  363. 
Exchequer  Rolls,  49,  156,  230. 
Executions,  15. 
Exeter,  Walter  of,  371. 

Fairburn  Tower,  85. 
Faldonside,  Ker  of,  245. 
Falkirk,  142,  154,  189. 
Falkland    Palace,    160,  167- 

169,  351,  375. 
Falside  Castle,  306. 
Fast  Castle,  335-338. 
Fenton,  Viscount,  332. 
Fenwick,  Colonel,  340,  341. 
Fergus,  61. 
Fian,  John,  223,  224. 
Fidra,  318. 

Fife,  Duncan,  Earl  of,  167. 
Fife,  Earls  of,  311. 
Fife,  Isabel,  Countess  of,  167, 
312. 

Fife,  Macduff,  Maormor  of, 

166,  311. 
Fife,  Robert  Stuart,  Earl  of, 

147,  152,  167,  168,  312. 
Fifeshire,  iii,  160,  163,  176, 

201,  271. 
Fingal,  55. 

Finlarig  Castle,  155-156. 
Finnart,  Sir  James  Hamilton 

of,  36. 
Fitzgerald,  Colin,  85. 
Flamborough  Head,  325. 
Flanders,  230,  326. 
Fleming,  Lady,  33, 
Fleming,  Lord,  30,  32,  268, 

296. 

Flodden,  29,  189,  256,  262. 
Fordun,  176. 
Forfar  Castle,  9. 


398 


Index 


Forfar,  Loch  of,  128. 
Forfarshire,  117,  120. 
Forrester    of  Corstorphine, 
264. 

Forse  Castle,  86. 

Forth,  River  and  Firth,  131, 

132,  133,  136,  140,  167,  176, 

196,  206,  271,  306,  309. 
Fort  William,  74. 
Francis,  Dauphin  of  France, 

217,  231,  288. 
Francis     Stuart,     Earl  of 

Bothwell,  39,  264. 
Francis,   William,   202,  203, 

204. 
Franks,  4,  5. 
Frarynzan,  42. 
Fraser  of  Brae,  327,  329. 
Frasers,  81. 

Frazer,  Sir  Simon,  142. 
Freuchie,  Grants  of,  79,  80, 
82. 

Froissart,  Sir  John,  207. 
Fyvie,  Alexander  Seton,  Earl 

of  Dunfermline,  Lord,  106. 
Fyvie  Castle,  9,  91,  104-108, 

127. 

Gaelic,  277. 
Galata  Tower,  136. 
Galloway,  378. 

Galloway,  Archibald  Douglas, 

Lord  of,  368,  377- 
Galloway,  Lords  of,  380. 
Garter,   Order  of   the,  187, 

233. 
Gaul,  4. 

George,  Earl  of  Angus,  313. 
George,  •  Earl  of  Dunbar, 
285. 

George  IV,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 233. 

German  Ocean,  85,  86,  no, 
309,  355. 

Gifford  family,  306. 

Gilbert,  Earl  of  Cassilis,  381, 
382,  384. 

Gillespie,  Robert,  326. 


Gillie,  John,  of  Gillieston, 
298. 

Gilnockie  Tower,  361-364, 
Girnigoe  Castle,  86. 
Girvan,  380. 
Girvan  Water,  384. 
Glamis  Castle,  9,  91,  126-128. 
Glamis,  John,  Earl  of,  223. 
Glasgow,  30,  34,  46,  184,  321, 
326. 

Glasgow,    James  Beaton, 

Archbishop  of,  259,  260. 
Glen  Aray,  50. 
Glenesk,  125. 
Glengarry,  77. 

Glengyle,  Gregor  Macgregor 
of,  154- 

Glenluce  Abbey,  382. 

Glenorchy,  Sir  Duncan  Camp- 
bell of,  70. 

Glenorchy,  Sir  James  Camp- 
bell of,  52. 

Gloucester,  Duke   of,  216. 

Goblin  Hall,  307. 

Golden  Fleece,  Order  of  the, 
187. 

Goldielands,  Scott  of,  351. 
Goldielands  Tower,  350,  351. 
Gordon,  130. 

Gordon,  Alexander,  of  Earls- 
ton,  326. 

Gordon,  Duke  of,  221,  229. 

Goths,  4. 

Go u rock,  46. 

Gowlan  Hill,  137. 

Gowrie  Conspiracy,  169,  331, 
338. 

Gowrie,    Earl   of,    158,  331, 

332,,  338. 
Gowrie  House,  338. 
Graeme,  277. 
Graham,  Sir  Robert,  138. 
Grampians,  117,  120,  129. 
Grange,    Kirkcaldy   of,  161, 

219,  220,  227,  239. 
Granger,  Mrs.,  114. 
Grant,    John    of  Freuchie, 

79,  80,  82. 


Index 


399 


Grant  of  Rothiemurchus,  82. 

Grantown,  82,  103. 

Gray,  Sir  Andrew,  204,  205. 

Great  Glen,  75. 

Greenan  Castle,  386. 

Gregory  IX,  Pope,  200. 

Greenock,  46. 

Grose,  276,  322. 

Guise,  Cardinal  de,  218. 

Guise,  Dowager  de,  219. 

Guv,  Count  of  Namur,  205. 

Gylen  Castle,  57-58. 

Haddington,  279. 
Hailes  Castle,  301-302,  303- 
Haliburton,  Sir  John,  331. 
Haliburton,  Sir  William,  33i- 
Halidon,  378. 

Hamilton,  Archibald,  Arch- 
bishop of  St.  Andrews,  33, 
164,  165,  296. 

Hamilton,  James,  of  Orbies- 
ton,  174. 

Hamilton,  Lord,  292. 

Hamilton,  Lord  James,  36. 

Hamilton,  Marquis  of,  39. 

Hamilton,  Master  of,  292. 

Hamilton  of  Bothwellhaugh, 
187. 

Hamilton  Palace,  174,  i85- 
Hamilton,     Sir    James,  of 

Finnart,  36. 
Hamilton,    Sir    Patrick,  of 

Arran,  238. 
Hamiltons,  290,  301. 
Harden,  Scott  of,  345,  35i- 
Harold,  Jarl,  95. 
Haroun  al  Raschid,  138. 
Hawick,  346,  350, 
Hawley's  Dragoons,  190. 
Hawthornden,    272,  273-275, 

298. 

Hay,  Andrew,  35. 
Hay,  Father,  267,  269. 
Hay,  George,  de  Minzeane, 
257. 

Hay,  William,  of  Locherwart, 
255,  256. 


Hays  of  Yester,  358. 
Heitons,  346. 
Helmsdale  Castle,  86. 
Help  and  Hold,  270,  271. 
Henderland,    Cockburn  of, 
363. 

Henri  H,  King  of  France, 
29. 

Henry  II,  King  of  England, 
141. 

Henry  III,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 278,  354. 

Henry  IV,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 208,  209. 

Henry  VIII,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 53,  161,  342,  375. 

Henry,  Prince  of  England, 
134- 

Hepburn,  Adam,  39. 

Hepburn,  James,  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  39,  91,  243,  245, 
247,  248,  253,  259,  260,  264, 
288,  289,  296,  297,  302,  303, 
305. 

Hepburn,  Patrick,  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  39,  264,  354.  • 

Hepburns,  302. 

Hereford,  William  Bohun, 
Earl  of,  367. 

Heregaidel,  see  Argyle,  56. 

Hermitage    Castle,    vii,  39, 

353-357- 
Hermitage  Water,  353. 
Herries,  Sir  John  Maxwell, 

Lord,  375. 
Hertford,  217,  242,  243,  251, 

296,  301,  343,  346. 
Highland  Railway,  83. 
Highlands,  49,   54,  75,  131, 

132,  136,  193,  283,  312. 
Hoddam  Castle,  376. 
Holden,  Thomas,  336. 
Holland,  232. 
Hollows  Tower,  361-364. 
Holy  Land,  60. 
Holyrood  Abbey  and  Palace, 

199,  205,  208,  210,  219,  220, 

236,  239,  240-249,  259,  288. 


400 


Index 


Holyrood,  Abbot  of,  232. 
Holyrood,     Robert  Stuart, 

Earl  of  Orkney,  Abbot  of, 

89,  93- 

Home  Castle,   10,  337,  339- 
341- 

Home,  Countess  of,  40. 

Home,  John,  155. 

Home,  Lady,  340. 

Home,     Lieutenant  -  Colonel, 

289,  376. 
Home,  Lord,  290,  291,  339. 
Homes,  337,  339- 
Hopes  Water,  306. 
Hounsdon,  Lord,  350. 
House  of  Commons,  228. 
Hume,  Captain,  31. 
Hume     Castle,    see  Home 

Castle. 
Hume,  Lord,  259. 
Hungary,  177. 
Huntingtower,  157-158. 
Huntly,  Earl  of,  81,  102,  153, 

247,  296,  297. 
Huntly  Rebellion,  119. 
Hurley-Haaky,  138. 
Husbac,  41. 

Ian,  69. 
Icolmkill,  61. 
Inchkeith,  288,  289. 
Inchmahone,  29. 
Inchmurran  Castle,  152, 
Inglis,  Sir  Thomas,  347. 
Innerwick  Castle,  290-295. 
Innes,  Cosmo,  9,  306. 
Innischonnel,  52. 
Inveraray,  49,  50. 
Inveraray  Castle,  50, 
Invergarry  Castle,  77. 
Inverliver,  Campbell  of,  97. 
Inverlochy  Castle,  9,  10,  73- 
77. 

Invermark  Castle,  124-125. 
Inverness,  75,  80,  81. 
Inverness  Castle,  80-82. 
Inverness-shire,  74,  83. 
Inverurie  Castle,  9. 


lona,  61,  66. 
Ionic  order,  372. 
Ireland,  53,  61,  153. 
Irvine,  William  de,  109. 
Isabel,    Countess    of  Fife, 

167,  312. 
Isabel  of  Lorn,  56. 
Isabella,  Duchess  of  Albany, 

146,  152,  312. 
Isla  River,  128,  156. 
I  slay,  56,  66. 
Italy,  299. 

Jacob,  60. 

Jacobites,  75,  122,  328,  329. 
James,  Earl  of  Douglas,  64, 
378. 

James,  Earl  of  Moray,  172. 
James,  Earl  of  Morton,  172, 

246,  253,  259,  303,  325. 
James    Hepburn,    Earl  of 

Bothwell,  39,  91,  243,  245, 

247,  248,  253,  259,  260,  264, 
288,  289,  296,  297,  302,  303, 
355. 

James  I,  King  of  Scotland. 
41,  42,  81,  138,  146,  152,  168, 
190,  209,  241,  253,  312,  324, 
325. 

James  II,  King  of  Scotland, 
39,  64,  104,  134,  135,  143, 
153,  210,  230.  237,  241,  326, 
328,  368,  388. 

James  III,  King  of  Scotland, 
39,  81,  133,  134,  143,  153, 
161,  168,  190,  214,  216,  217, 
252,  285,  287,  289,  374,  388. 

James  IV,  King  of  Scotland, 
18,  39,  49,  64,  69,  70,  80,  81, 
134,  143,  153,  168,  178,  189, 
190,  233,  238,  241,  262,  368. 

James  V,  King  of  Scotland, 
18,  20,  39,  89,  93,  133,  138, 
143,  153,  168,  178,  187,  190, 
217,  233,  242,  252,  310,  311, 
313,  314,  315,  362,  368,  375- 

James  VI,  King  of  Scotland, 
21,  61,  65,  68,  134,  143,  154, 


Index 


401 


158,  169,  173,  175,  178,  179, 
190,  199,  218, 219, 220, 223, 
224,  225,  226,  233,  236, 264, 

296,  297,  324,  331,  332,  337» 
364,  368,  376. 

James  VII,  King  of  Scot- 
land, 127,  221,  230,  352. 

James  the  Gross,  Earl  of 
Douglas,  213. 

Jedburgh,  342,  355- 

Jedburgh  Castle,  10. 

Jeffrey,  342. 

John  de  Yle,  Earl  of  Ross, 
66. 

John,  Earl  of  Breadalbane, 
52. 

John,  Earl  of  Glamis,  223. 
John,  Earl  of  Mar,  214,  252. 
John,  Lord  of  the  Isles,  53, 
.81. 

John  Stuart,  Earl  of  Carrick, 

see  Robert  III. 
Jointure,    Lady  Burleigh's, 

175. 

Jonson,  Ben,  274. 
Jordanhill,    Captain  Craw- 
ford of,  30,  32. 
Julius  II,  Pope,  233. 

Kale  Water,  342. 
Keiss  Castle,  86. 
Keith,  223. 

Keith,  Sir  John,  no,  in. 
Keith,  Sir  William,  no,  in. 
Keiths,  Earls  Marischal,  113. 
Kelso,  339,  342. 
Kennedies,  Earls  of  Cassilis, 
381. 

Kennedy,  Sir  Thomas,  of  Col- 

zean,  384, 
Kenneth  I,  King  of  Scotland, 
277. 

Kenneth  II,  King  of  Scot- 
land, 277. 

Kenneth  III,  King  of  Scot- 
land, 140. 

Kenneth  Macalpine,  King  of 
Scotland,  61,  62,  195. 


Ker  of  Faldonside,  245. 
Kerrera,  Island  of,  57. 
Kerrera,  Sound  of,  54. 
Kers,  342. 
Kilbryde,  42. 

Kilchurn  Castle,  vii,  51-52. 
Kilcoy  Castle,  85. 
Kildrummie  Castle,  9,  11,  108- 
109. 

Killegrew,  316. 

Killiecrankie,  233. 

Killin,  155. 

Kilmarnock,  42,  387. 

Kilmarnock,  Earl  of,  388. 

Kilsyth,  175. 

Kim  of  Mollance,  230. 

Kincardine  Castle,  9. 

Kinclaven  Castle,  156-157. 

Kinghorn,  201,  280. 

Kingussie,  82. 

Kinkell  Castle,  85. 

Kinlochaline  Castle,  67. 

Kinneff,  114. 

Kinross,  170,  171. 

Kintail,  Mackenzies  of,  85. 

Kintyre,  48,  56. 

Kirkcaldy  of  Grange,  161, 
219,  220,  227,  239. 

Kirkcudbrightshire,  230. 

Kirkpatrick,  Roger,  of  Close- 
burn,  374. 

Kirkwall,  88. 

Kirkwall  Palace,  86-88,  92,  93. 
Knockinnan  Castle,  86. 
Knox,  John,  220,  244,  245. 
Kyle  Stuart,  387. 

L'AIeran,  Cardinal,  200. 
Lambert,  General,  114,  332. 
Lamberton  Castle,  10. 
Lamberton,  William,  Bishop 

of  St.  Andrews,  324. 
Lamont,  Sir  James,  47. 
Laments,  47. 
Lanarkshire,  37,  347. 
Lancaster,  208. 
Langholm,  361. 
Langholm  Castle,  375. 


402 


Index 


Langlands,  William,  257, 
258. 

Langside,  30,  44,  174,  339,  375- 
Largs,  41,  85. 

Lauder  of  the  Bass,  324,  368. 
Lauder,  Robert,  324. 
Leadshill  mountains,  347. 
Learmouth,  326. 
Learmoutli  Thomas,  of  Er- 

sildown,  201,  279,  280. 
Ledes,  Alexander  de,  29. 
Leicester,   Robert,   Earl  of, 

160. 

Leith,  211,  215,  216,  217,  299, 

316,  327. 
Lennox,  161. 
Lennox,  Duke  of,  158. 
Lennox,   Duncan,    Earl  of, 

138. 

Lennox,  Earl  of,  30,  281, 
312. 

Lennox  Hills,  136. 
Lennox,  Maldwyn,  Earl  of, 
28. 

Leonard,  Lord,  342. 

Lesley,  John,  161. 

Lesley,  Norman,  Master  of 

Rothes,  161. 
Leslie,    General    David,  58, 

167,  220,  281. 
Lethington  Castle,  303. 
Lethington,  Maitland  of,  30, 

120,  220,  244,  253,  296,  297, 

303- 

Leuchars  Castle,  9. 
Leven,  Earl  of,  237. 
Leven,  River,  27,  171. 
Liberton,  249. 
Liddel  Water,  354. 
Liddesdale,  39,  206,  259,  353, 

354,  355,  362. 
Liddesdale,  William  Douglas, 

Knight  of,  206,  207,  354, 

355. 

Limoisne,  Richard  de,  206. 
Lindsay,  Janet,  123. 
Lindsay,    Lady    Sophia,  of 
Balcarres,  232. 


Lindsay,  Lord,  122. 
Lindsay,  Lord,  of  the  Byres, 

III,  120,  172,  246,  259. 
Lindsay,  Margaret,  123,  124, 
Lindsay   of    Pitscottie,  163, 

238,  285,  315- 
Lindsay,  Sir  David,  of  the 

Mount,  162. 
Lindsay,  Sir  James,  374. 
Lindsays  of  Edzell,  118,  120, 

125,  126. 
Linlithgow,  184,  230,  302. 
Linlithgow  Palace,  10,  17,  18, 

169,  186-191. 
Lismore,  70. 
Livingstone,  Lord,  296. 
Livingstone,  Regent,  210,  211, 

212,  213,  237,  264. 
Lochaber,  75. 
Loch  Aline,  67. 
Loch  Alsh,  85. 
Loch-an-Eilan  Castle,  84. 
Loch  Awe,  51,  52,  53,  98. 
Loch  Doon  Castle,  10. 
Loch  Duich,  85. 
Locherwart,  Mote  of,  253. 
Locherwart,  William  Hay  of, 

255,  256. 
Loch  Etive,  54,  55,  58. 
Loch  Fyne,  46,  47,  48,  49. 
Lochindorb  Castle,  9,  10,  84, 

103-104. 
Lochlee,  125. 
Loch  Leven.  174,  175. 
Lochleven  Castle,  vii,  17,  120, 

169-174,  185,  289,  339- 
Lochleven,  Sir  Robert  Doug- 
las of,  172. 
Loch  Lomond,  152. 
Loch  Long,  85. 
Lochmaben    Castle,   vii,  10, 

365.  369,  375. 
Loch  Ness,  78. 

Lochow,  Sir  Colin  Campbell 

of,  63. 
Loch  Sunart,  69. 
Loch  Tay,  155. 
Lochy,  River,  74. 


Index 


403 


Lockhart,  235. 

Logan,   John,   of  Restalrig, 

332,  337,  338. 
London,    29,    61,    228,  275, 

366. 

London,   Tower  of,  7,  142, 

144,  231,  299,  357,  375- 
Lord  of  Misrule,  257. 
Lords  of  the  Isles,  42,  53,  55, 

64,  66,  67,  69,  80,  81,  312. 
Lorn,  Brooch  of,  58,  62. 
Lorn,  Isabel  of,  56. 
Lorn,      John  Macdougall, 

Lord  of,  62. 
Lorn,  John  of,  97,  98. 
Lorn,  Lords  of,  55,  63. 
Lorn,  Macdougalls  of,  56. 
Lorn,  Stuart,  Lord  of,  56, 

63-  . 

Lorraine,  Duke  of,  175. 
Lothian,   136,  194,   195,  268, 

271,  276-334. 
Lovat,  Lord,  99,  100. 
Low  Countries,  106,  238. 
Lowlands,  68,  131,  193,  242, 

277,  339- 
Lubanach,  65. 
Lumphanan  Castle,  8, 
Luncarty,  141. 
L-plan,  15,  19,  22. 
Lycabettos,  136. 
Lyles,  304, 

Ma  caul  ay,  228. 
Macbeth,  8,  80,  97,  127. 
Macculloch,  137. 
Macdonald,  Allaster,  of  Col- 

kitto,  67,  69. 
Macdonalds,  56,  69,  77. 
Macdougall,  John,  Lord  of 

Lorn,  62. 
Macdougalls,  48,  62,  63. 
Macdougalls  of  Lorn,  56. 
Macduff,  Maormor  of  Fife, 

166,  311. 
Macduff's  Castle,  166. 
MacGibbon  and  Ross,  vi,  74, 

106,  382. 


Macgregor,  Gregor,  of  Glen- 
gyle,  154. 

Macgregor,  Rob  Roy,  169. 

Maclans,  69. 

Maclnnes,  67. 

Mackenzies  of  Kintail,  85. 

Mackintoshes,  81. 

MacLeans,  183. 

Magdalen,  Queen  of  Scot- 
land, 242. 

Magnus  Barefoot,  King  of 
Norway,  41. 

Maid  of  Lorn,  66. 

Maid  of  Norway,  12,  201. 

Maiden's  Leap,  158. 

Mainland  of  Shetland,  73,  88, 
91. 

Maitland,  Charles,  328. 
Maitland  of  Lethington,  30, 

120,  220,  244,  253,  296,  297, 

303. 

Malcolm  Canmore,  King  of 
Scotland,  8,  80,  166,  176, 
177,  178,  19s,  373- 

Malcolm  II,  King  of  Scot- 
land. 127,  195;. 

Malcolm  IV,  King  of  Scot- 
land, 167,  387. 

Maldwyn,  Earl  of  Lennox, 
28. 

Man,  Olave,  King  of,  41,  56, 
57. 

Mar,  Earl  of,  154,  281,  299. 

Mar,  House  of,  109. 

Mar,  John,  Earl  of,  214,  252. 

Mar,  Lord,  259. 

March,  278. 

March  Burn,  270. 

March,  Earl  of,  277,  278,  358, 
359,  368. 

Margaret,  Countess  of  Car- 
rick,  380. 

Margaret,  Countess  of  Men- 
teith,  152. 

Margaret  Douglas,  Countess 
of  St.  Clair,  269. 

Margaret  of  Denmark,  Queen 
of  Scotland  153. 


404 


Index 


Margaret  of  England,  Queen 
of  Scotland,  153. 

Margaret,  St.,  Queen  of  Scot- 
land, 8,  177,  195,  196,  229, 
278. 

Margaret,  wife  of  Alexander 

III,  200. 
Margaret,  wife  of  James  IV, 

189. 

Margaret,  wife  of  Lauclan 
McLean,  65. 

Maries,  The  Four,  244. 

Marischal,  Dowager  Count- 
ess, 114. 

Marischal,  Earls,  113,  114. 

Marjory,  Countess  of  Dun- 
bar, 280. 

Mark  Burn,  125. 

Mary  of  Gueldres,  Queen  of 
Scotland,  153,  214. 

Mary  of  Guise,  Regent  of 
Scotland,  81,  169,  186,  190, 
217,  236,  287,  320. 

Mary  of  Lorraine,  133,  178. 

Mary,  Princess,  388. 

Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  2,  20. 
29,  30,  44,  45,  81,  89,  91, 
119,  133,  139,  143,  144,  154, 
169,  171.  172,  173,  174,  185, 
188,  217,  219,  227,  231,  236, 
237,  239,  240,  243,  244,  245, 
247,  248,  249,  252,  253,  259, 
260,  288,  296,  297,  302,  315, 
316,  339,  346,  354,  355,  368, 


Maxwell,  Herbert,  Lord,  373. 
Maxwell,  Lord,  357. 
Maxwell,  Robert,  Lord,  368, 

374,  375- 
Maxwell,    Sir    John,  Lord 

Herries,  375. 
Maxwells,  373,  374,  376,  378. 
Maybole,  381,  384,  386. 
May-poles,  259. 
McKenzie,  Bishop,  87. 
McLean,  Hector,  65. 
McLean,  Lauclan,  65. 


Mcintosh,  Brigadier,  of  Bor- 

lum,  298. 
McLellans,  230. 
Mearns,  117. 
Melgum  Burn,  128. 
Melrose,  Abbot  of,  278. 
Melrose,  343,  346. 
Melville,  Sir  Robert,  172. 
Menteith,  144,  147,  154. 
Menteith,  Earls  of,  147,  152, 

281. 

Menteith,  Lake,  29. 

Menteith,  Margaret,  Count- 
ess of,  152. 

Menteith,  Robert  Stuart,  Earl 
of,  147,  152,  167,  168,  312. 

Menteith,  Sir  John,  29. 

Menteith,  Walter  Comyn, 
Earl  of,  353,  354- 

Mercer,  176. 

Mewtys,  Sir  Peter,  292. 

Middleton,  228. 

Midlothian,  268,  275. 

Milnathort,  174. 

Mingarry  Castle,  10,  68-70. 

Minzeane,  George  Hay  de, 
257- 

Mitchell,  James,  327. 
Moidart,  John  of,  69. 
Mollance,  Kim  of,  230. 
Monipenny,  Lord,  39. 
Monk,  General,  144,  269,  316, 
332. 

Monmouth    and  Buccleuch, 

Anna,  Duchess  of,  352. 
Monmouth,  Duke  of,  352. 
Monroes,  81. 
Mons,  230. 

Montague,  William  de,  Earl 
of  Salisbury,  283,  284, 
28s. 

Montrose,  154. 
Montrose,  Earl  of,  130. 
Montrose,  Marquis  of,  69,  75, 

76,  91,  113.  175,  183. 
Moravia,  Gilbert  de.  Bishop 

of  Caithness,  108. 
Moray,  9,  102. 


Index 


405 


Moray,  Andrew,  Lord  Both- 
well,  38. 

Moray,  Earl  of,  81,  153,  154, 
206, 

Moray,   Elizabeth,  Countess 

of,  153. 
Moray,  James,  Earl  of,  172. 
Moray,  Lord,  120. 
Moray  or  de  Moravia,  family 

of,  38. 

Moray,  Randolph,  Earl  of, 
85,  201,  204,  283,  367. 

Moray,  Sir  Andrew,  Regent 
of  Scotland,  30,  104,  113, 
153,  160,  187,  303,  325,  376. 

Morton  Castle,  10. 

Morton,  James,  Earl  of,  172, 
246,  253,  259,  303,  325. 

Morton,  Regent  of  Scotland, 
33. 

Morven,  66. 
Moubray,  139. 

Mount,   Sir  David  Lindsay 

of  the,  162. 
Mousa,  73,  93-95- 
Muckrach  Castle,  82. 
Mull,  56. 

Mull,  Sound  of,  64,  66,  67, 

68,  69,  70. 
Muness  Castle,  92-93. 
Murdiestone,  347. 
Murdoch,  Duke  of  Albany, 

138,  146,  147,  152,  153,  160, 

168,  209,  256,  312,  325,  368, 

374. 

Mure,  Laird  of  Auchendrane, 
384,  385. 

Nairn,  96.  97. 

Namur,  Guy,  Count  of,  205. 
Napier,  John,  Lord,  337,  338. 
Narristoun,  42. 
Nectansmere,  194. 
Neidpath  Castle,  17,  357-359. 
Nelson,  William,  237. 
Nethan,  River,  33,  34. 
Newark  Castle,  St.  Monance, 
166-167. 


Newark  Castle,  Yarrow,  351- 
352. 

Newcastle,  363. 

New  Jersey,  115 

Niddrie  Castle,  174,  184-185. 

Nisbet,  56. 

Nith  River,  370. 

Nithsdale,  369,  374. 

Nithsdale,  Robert,  Earl  of, 

376,  378. 
Nodisdale,  42. 
Norderies,  68. 
Norham,  5. 

Norman  Conquest,  5,  8,  277. 

Norman  keep,  5,  6,  7,  13. 

Normans,  5,  8,  9. 

Norsemen,  41,  57. 

North  Berwick,  223,  309,  322, 
326,  330. 

Northern  Lights  Commis- 
sioners, 330. 

North  Esk  River,  266. 

North  Queensferry,  178. 

North  Sea,  165. 

Northumberland,  277. 

Northumberland,  Earl  of, 
174,  349. 

Northumberland,  U  t  h  r  e  d, 
Prince  of,  277. 

Northumbria,  194,  195. 

Northumbrians,  140,  193,  194, 

195. 
Norway,  94. 
Norwegians,  62,  72. 
Notland  Castle,  90-91. 
Nottingham,  287. 
Nova    Scotia    baronets,  66, 

226,  227. 

Oban,  46,  53,  54,  57,  58,  70, 

71,  72,  73- 
Ochil  Hills,  136,  184. 
Ochiltree,  Lord,  68. 
Ogilvies,  Earls  of  Airlie,  128, 

129. 

Ogilvy,  Mrs.,  114. 
Ogilvy,  Lieutenant-governor 
of  Dunnottar  Castle,  115. 


406 


Index 


Olave,  King  of  Man,  41,  56, 
57. 

Oldenburg,  Dukes  of,  268. 
Old  Man  of  Wick  Castle,  86. 
Olifard,  Walter,  justiciary  of 

Lothian,  38. 
Oliphant,  Sir  William,  142. 
Oliver,  a  carpenter,  29. 
Orbieston,   James  Hamilton 

of,  174- 
Orkney,  12,  72,  86,  87,  95. 
Orkney,  Adam  B  o  t  h  w  e  11 , 

Bishop  of,  91. 
Orkney,   Earls  of,  89,  268, 

324. 

Orkney,  Patrick  Stuart,  Earl 

of,  87,  89,  92. 
Orkney,  Robert  Stuart,  Earl 

of,  89,  93. 
Orkneyinga  Saga,  95. 
Ormiston,  304. 

Ornamentation  of  Castles,  15, 

19,  23. 
Ossian,  27. 
Ottadini,  192. 

Owen,  King  of  Cumbria,  195. 

Paisley,  44. 

Palestine,  268. 

Papana  Burn,  304. 

Paris,  114,  233. 

Parke,  Elliott  of  the,  355. 

Parr,  Sir  William,  342. 

Partridge,  Sir  Miles,  294, 

Patrick,  Earl  of  Dunbar,  200, 
278,  279,  280,  282,  336. 

Patrick  Hepburn,  Earl  of 
Bothwell,  39,  264,  354. 

Patrick  Stuart,  Earl  of  Ork- 
ney, 87,  89,  92. 

Patten,  290. 

Peebles,  357,  359. 

Peebles-shire,  358. 

Pembroke,  Aymer  de  Val- 
ance, Earl  of,  38. 

Pennant,  56,  64,  276. 

Penrith,  368. 

Pentland  Firth,  86. 


Pentlands,  270. 

Percy,  Earl,  380. 

Perth,  156,  157,  159,  206,  209. 

Perthshire,  29,  62,  93, 

Petit  France,  252. 

Philip,  John,  327. 

Philiphaugh,  352. 

Picts,  60,  75,  171,  192,  194, 

195,  277,  305,  321. 
Picts,  Congal,  King  of  the, 

171. 

Pinkie,  29,  242,  306. 
Pinkie  House,  300. 
Pit,  15. 

Pitarrow,    George  Wishart 

of,  161,  165,  325. 
Pitlochy,  Scott  of,  115. 
Pitscottie,  Lindsay  of,  163, 

238,  28s,  315. 
Poitiers,  378. 
Polwarth,  Lord,  345. 
Portpatrick,  379. 
Preston,  299,  321. 
Preston,  Sir  Henry,  106. 
Preston,  Sir  Simon,  252. 
Preston  Tower,  300-301. 
Prestonpans,  295. 
Prestons,  252. 

Prestons  of  Whytbank,  345. 

Queensberry,  Duke  of,  358. 
Queen's  Ferry,  196,  197,  327. 

Rachel  Castle,  70. 
Ramsay,  Alexander,  32. 
Ramsay,  John,  39. 
Ramsay,  Sir  Alexander,  of 

Dalhousie,    274,    277,  285, 

354- 

Randolph,    Earl   of  Moray, 

85,  201,  204,  283,  367. 
Rattray,  129. 

Rebellion  of  1715,  64,  83,  85, 

121,  144,  221. 
Rebellion  of  1745,  52,  64,  83, 

121,  137,  144,  154,  190,  221, 

388. 

Redcastle,  9,  83,  85. 


Index 


407 


Reformation,  21,  258,  322, 
382. 

Regalia  of  England,  233. 
Regalia  of  Scotland,  62,  114, 

115,  221,  233-236. 
Reginald,  Thane  of  Argyle, 

56. 

Renaissance,    21,    133,  37i> 

372. 
Renfrew,  42. 

Restalrig,    John   Logan  of, 

332,  337,  338. 
Restoration,  234. 
Revolution,  220,  242,  272,  328. 
Rhodes,  52,  163. 
Riccarton  Junction,  353. 
Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  King 

of  England,  141. 
Richard  II,  King  of  England, 

12,  208,  24^. 
Rizzio,  David,  158,  217,  243, 

244,  245,  246,  247,  249,  288. 
Robert,    Earl    of  Leicester, 

160. 

Robert,   Earl  of  Nithsdale, 

376,  378. 
Robert  I,  King  of  Scotland, 

see  Bruce. 
Robert  II,  King  of  Scotland, 

16,  41,  79,  104,  152,  208, 

387. 

Robert  III,  King  of  Scotland, 
41,  42,  167,  172,  207,  209, 
241,  324,  387. 

Robert  Stuart,  Earl  of  Men- 
teith  and  Fife,  Duke  of 
Albany,  Regent  of  Scot- 
land, 147,  152,  167,  168, 
312. 

Robertson,  30. 

Robin  Hood,  331. 

Rob  Roy  Macgregor,  169. 

Roger,  Bishop  of  St.  An- 
drews, 160. 

Roman  house,  4,  5. 

Romans,  4,  26,  28,  140,  189, 
192,  193,  373- 

Rome,  3,  III. 


Rosabelle  St.  Clair,  271,  272, 
273. 

Roslin  Castle,  266-273. 
Roslin  Chapel,  266,  268,  269, 

272,  273. 
Roslin,  William  St.  Clair  of, 

268,  270,  271. 
Ross,  66,  84,  85. 
Ross,  Alexander,  Earl  of,  81, 

312. 

Ross,  Donald,  Earl  of,  64. 
Ross,  Earl  of,  80,  135,  281. 
Ross,  John  de  Yle,  Earl  of, 
66. 

Ross-shire  Highlanders,  226. 
Rothes,      Norman  Lesley, 

Master  of,  161. 
Rothesay  Castle,  10,  16,  40-44, 

46,  47,  325. 
Rothesay,   David,  Duke  of, 

160,  167,  208,  209. 
Rothiemurchus,    Grants  of, 

82. 

Roxburgh  Castle,  10,  14T. 
Roxburgh,  Duke  of,  342. 
Roxburgh,  Laird  of,  39. 
Ruthven  Castle,  9,  82-83,  157- 
158. 

Ruthven,  Lord,  158,  172,  245, 

246,  247. 
Ruthven,  Patrick,  Lord,  158. 
Ruthven,  Raid  of,  158. 
Ruthvens,  331. 

Sadler,  Sir  Ralph,  315,  316. 
St.  Abb's  Head,  163,  335- 
St.  Andrews,  iii,  142,  240, 

257,  258,  296,  324. 
St.  Andrews,  Archbishop  and 

Cardinal   Beaton   of,  161, 

165,  296,  321. 
St.     Andrews,  Archbishop 

Sharp  of,  327. 
St.      Andrews,  Archibald 

Hamilton,  Archbishop  of, 

33,  164,  165,  296. 
St.   Andrews,   Bishop  Trail 

of,  160. 


408 


Index 


St.  Andrews  Castle,  lo,  i6o- 
i66. 

St.  Andrews,  Roger,  Bishop 
of,  1 60. 

St.  Andrews,  William  Lam- 
berton,  Bishop  of,  324, 

St.  Baldred,  321,  322. 

St.  Clair,  Margaret  Douglas, 
Countess  of,  269. 

St.  Clair,  Rosabelle,  271,  272, 
273. 

St.  Clair,  Waldernus,  Comte 

de,  268. 
St.  Clair,  William  de,  268. 
St.  Clair,  William,  Earl  of, 

268. 

St.  Clair,  William,  of  Ros- 
lin,  268,  270,  271. 

St.  Columba,  61. 

St.  Margaret's  Hope,  177. 

St.  Mary's  Loch,  350. 

St.  Michael,  Order  of,  187. 

St.  Monance,  166. 

St.  Mungo,  321. 

Salisbury,  William  de  Mon- 
tague, Earl  of,  283,  284, 
285. 

Sampson,  Agnes,  223. 
Sandilands,  Laird  of  Calder, 
269. 

Sandyknowe,  344. 
Sauchie,  143. 
Sauchieburn,  217. 
Saxons,   140,   193,   194,  195, 
277. 

Scalloway  Castle,  91-92,  93. 
Scone,  42,  6r,  200. 
Scone,  Stone  of,  60. 
Scoon,  277. 

Scott,  Mary,  The  Flower  of 
Yarrow,  350,  35 1- 

Scott  of  Goldielands,  351. 

Scott  of  Harden,  345,  351. 

Scott  of  Pitlochy,  115. 

Scott  of  Tushielaw,  363. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  34,  44,  54, 
57,  61,  63,  66,  173,  186,  203, 
221,  230,  231,  234,  235,  257, 


264,  269,  272,  311,  317,  335, 
337,  344,  345,  348,  352,  359, 
360. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  of  Branx- 

holm,  348,  350. 
Scott,  Sir  William,  of  Buc- 

cleuch,  347. 
Scottish  keep,  13. 
Scotts  of  Buccleuch,  351. 
Selkirk,  351, 
Selkirk  Forest,  281. 
Senechalus,  Alexander,  80. 
Senechalus,  David,  Earl  of 

Strathearn,  79. 
Seton,  Alexander,  316. 
Seton,  Alexander,  Lord  Fy- 

vie.  Earl  of  Dunfermline, 

106. 

Seton,  Earl  of,  299,  300. 

Seton,  George,  Lord,  174, 
296,  297. 

Seton,  Mary,  296. 

Seton  Palace,  288,  295-300. 

Seton,  Sir  Alexander,  298. 

Seven  Sisters,  262. 

Seward,  Governor  of  Dun- 
bar, 281. 

Shakespeare,  127,  274. 

Sharp,  Archbishop  of  St. 
Andrews,  327. 

Sheriffmuir,  169. 

Shetland,  72,  73,  86,  87,  88, 
90,  91,  92,  94,  95. 

Shuna  Castle,  70. 

Sicily,  136. 

Sinclair,  Oliver,  315. 

Skelton,  366. 

Skipness  Castle,  10,  47-48. 
Smailholm,  343. 
Smailholm  Tower,  343-345- 
Solan  geese,  322. 
Solway  Firth,  370. 
Solway  Moss,  169,  375. 
Somerled,  Thane  of  Argyle, 
56. 

Somerset,  217,  242,  295,  306, 
340. 

Soulis  family,  354. 


Index 


409 


Spain,  60. 
Spanish,  75. 
Spey,  83. 

Spreul,  John,  326. 
Sprott,  a  notary,  338. 
Spynie,  Lord,  125. 
Spynie  Palace,  102-103. 
Stewarton,  42. 

Stirling,   137,   142,   147,  168, 

183,  186,  211,  256,  312,  374. 
Stirling  Castle,  vi,  10,  17,  18, 

20,  27,  33,  131-144,  154,  169. 
Stirling,  Earl  of,  226. 
Stonehaven,  no. 
Stoneypath  Tower,  304. 
Strathbolgie  Castle,  9. 
Strathclyde,  26. 
Strathearn,  163. 
Strathearn,   David  Senecha- 

lus.  Earl  of,  79. 
Strathtay,  129. 
Strivilin,  John  de,  171. 
Strozzi,  Leo,  Prior  of  Capua, 

163. 

Struthers,  in. 
Stuart,  Alan,  387. 
Stuart,  Alexander,  138. 
Stuart,    Allan,    Abbot  of 

Crosraguel,  382,  383. 
Stuart,  District  of,  70. 
Stuart,  Duncan,  of  Appin,  70. 
Stuart,  Francis,  355. 
Stuart,     Francis,     Earl  of 

Bothwell,  39,  264. 
Stuart,  James,  153. 
Stuart,  John,  Earl  of  Carrick, 

see  Robert  III. 
Stuart,  Laird  of  Drumlanrig, 

269. 

Stuart,  Lord  of  Lorn,  56,  63. 

Stuart,  Patrick,  Earl  of  Ork- 
ney, 87.  89,  92. 

Stuart,  Prince  Charles  Ed- 
ward, 77,  82,  137,  144,  154, 
190,  221,  244. 

Stuart,  Robert,  Abbot  of 
Holyrood  and  Earl  of 
Orkney,  89,  93. 


Stuart,  Robert,  Earl  of  Men- 
teith  and  Fife,  Duke  of  Al- 
bany, Regent  of  Scotland, 
147,  152,  167,  168,  312. 

Stuart,  Walter,  138,  325,  387. 

Stuarts,  44,  75,  121,  122,  143, 
168,  208,  233,  238,  290, 
328. 

Suderies,  68. 

Surrey,  342,  343. 

Surrey,  Earl  of,  375. 

Surrey,  Warrenne,  Earl  of, 
281. 

Sussex,  Earl  of,  340,  349,  361. 
Sutherland,  72,  85. 
Sutherland,  Duke  of,  85. 
Sutherland,    William,  Earl 
of,  79. 

Tanistry,  196. 

Tantallon  Castle,  vii,  18,  19, 
20,  146,  152,  263,  309-319, 
330.  , 

Taormina,  136. 

Tarbert,  48. 

Tarbert  Castle,  48-51. 

Tay  River,  156,  159. 

Teith  River,  136,  145. 

Terras-moss,  362. 

Test,  327. 

Testament,     David  Borth- 

wick's,  262. 
Teviot,  350. 
Teviotdale,  348. 
Teviot  River,  346. 
Theodosia,  26. 

Thistle,  Order  of  the,  187, 
233. 

Thomas    the    Rhymer,  201, 

279,  280. 
Thora  Ronaldsdatter,  94. 
Thornton  Castle,  290-295. 
Threave  Castle,  17,  230,  376- 

378. 

Throgmorton,  Sir  Nicholas, 
337. 

Tillietudlem,  see  Craignethan 
Castle. 


410 


Index 


Tinwald  Castle,  376. 
Tirafour  Castle,  70. 
Torthorwald  Castle,  369-370. 
Touraine,  Duchy  of,  210,  212. 
Toward  Castle,  46,  47. 
Toward  Point,  46. 
T-plan,  22. 

Trail,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews, 
160. 

Tranent,  297,  304. 
Traprain  Law,  302. 
Trebrauch,  42. 
Troqueer,  326. 
Trossachs,  vii. 
Trotter,  Tom,  291. 
Tiillibardine  family,  158. 
Turgot,  197. 

Turnberry  Castle,  10,  380. 
Tuscany,  Duke  of,  175. 
Tushielaw,  Laird  of,  359,  360. 
Tushielaw,  Scott  of,  363. 
Tweed,  3,  195,  208,  339,  343. 

357,  359- 
Tweedie,  Laird  of  Drumer- 

line,  269. 
Tyndrum,  62. 
Tyne,  264,  266,  301,  304. 
Tynninghame,  321. 
Tytler,  30,  99,  303. 

Ulster,  Annals  of,  57. 
Union,  21,  27,  234,  368. 
United  States,  226. 
Unst,  92,  93. 
Urquhart  Bay,  78. 
Urquhart  Castle,  9,  10,  78-80. 
Uthred,  Prince  of  Northum- 
berland, 277. 
Uxb ridge,  77. 

Valance,  Aymer  de,  Earl  of 

Pembroke,  38. 
Valentia,  192. 
Vallibus  family,  330,  331. 
Vaux    or    Vallibus  family, 

330,  331- 
Vipont,  Allen  de,  171,  172. 


Waite,  332. 
Wales,  193. 

Wall  of  Antoninus,  26,  189. 
Wallace,  Sir  William,  2,  12, 

29,  33,  54,  113,  142,  157,  159, 

324. 

Walter  Comyn,  Earl  of  Men- 

teith,  353,  354. 
Walter  of  Exeter,  371. 
Warrenne,   Earl  of  Surrey, 

281. 

Watson  of  Aithemy,  123. 
Weirdie  Moor,  231. 
Wemyss,  Earl  of,  159. 
Wemyss  family,  166. 
West  Enoch,  384. 
Westminster  Abbey,  60. 
Westmoreland,  368. 
Westray,  90,  91. 
Westray,  Gilbert  Balfour  of, 
91. 

Wharton,  Lord,  375. 
Whitekirk,  210. 
Whitelaw,  Laird  of,  289. 
Whittingham  Tower,  302-303, 
304. 

Whitton  Fort,  343. 
Whytbank,  Prestons  of,  345. 
Wick,  Old  Man  of,  86. 
Wightman,  General,  299. 
William     Bohun,     Earl  of 

Hereford.  367. 
William,     Earl    of  Angus, 

Marquis  of  Douglas,  316. 
William,    Earl   of  Douglas, 

211,  213,  230. 
William,  Earl  of  St.  Qair, 

268. 

William,  Earl  of  Sutherland, 
79. 

William  III,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 328. 

William  the  Conqueror,  King 
of  England,  177,  268, 
366. 

William  the  Lion,  King  of 
Scotland,  79,  141,  200,  366, 
387. 


Index 


411 


Wilton,  Sir  John,  201,  205. 
Winton,  Earl  of,  185,  297. 
Wirren,  Hill  of,  121. 
Wishart,  George,  of  Pitai> 

row,  161,  165,  325. 
Wishop,  Burn  of,  121. 
Witchcraft,  222-225. 
Wolf  of  Badenoch,  83,  84, 

104. 

Wolf's  Craig,  335. 
Wordsworth,  358. 
Wye,  325. 

Yarrow,  351,  352. 


Yarrow,    Mary    Scott,  the 
■  Flower  of,  350,  351. 
Yester,  306. 

Yester  Castle,  10,  306-308. 
Yester,  Hays  of,  358. 
York  and  Albany,  Duke  of, 
225. 

York,  Cardinal,  233. 
York,  Duke  of,  231,  321. 
Ythan,  River,  104. 
Young,  George,  327. 

Z-plan,  22,  go,  155. 


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